Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever
by gbstroud
Summary: Poor Heather just wants to finish her game with a Normal ending, but nothing is going right. Missing monsters, incorrect scripts, and technical issues continue to plague her. On top of that, her player keeps leaving her unpaused. Will the torment ever end?
1. Chapter 1: The Mall

****Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever****

****Chapter 1: The Mall****

I sat up groggily from the table and wiped the drool off of my face.

"What a nightmare."

__Thank God, an Extra New Game... i____f I have to get splattered by that roller coaster one more time...__

My head turned to squint over at the glowing window blinds, and then I rose up out of my seat. My hand automatically reached up and tucked away the Aglaophotis locket, as I'd done the last six million times. I then left the Happy Burger without paying. No one gave a crap, same as it ever was. I ignored the looping audio of bustling people and cars outside as I went for the sliding glass doors. I loaded out into the bright Mall area and made a sharp left, then walked confidently over to the payphones so Douglas could sneak up on me.

"Dad. It's m—"

__What the hell?__

I thought I heard some kind of weird trip-hop music thumping through the phone speaker. I lowered the receiver and stared down at it.

"Dad...?"

"Yeah. Oh, uhh... hold... ...can you... ...it down? ...'s my daughter."

The noise went down only slightly.

"Dad, this isn't in the script," I said, keeping my voice hushed as Douglas approached.

"I know, it's just… ...aliens. ...they going... ...the Reven... ending this run?" He didn't sound very alienish to me, and I could barely understand what he was saying.

"No, I don't think so," I whispered. "And even if they were, you're supposed to be having tea at the table. Is James there?"

"Haven't seen... ...but he usually... ...up when you're... ...op Center. Now, abou... that ending..."

"I'm feeling like they might go Possessed on this one," I said.

"Noooo," came an exasperated reply, and then he _finally _began to speak clearly. "Just try to go Normal. We're already acting so strange they probably think their game's broken. Just stick to Normal and we'll see what happens."

_He sounds so weird without his alien voice._

I guess I was starting to feel paranoid.

"Okay, I'll try... Promise you'll be dead when I get home?"

"No problem," he answered hurriedly. "Let me clear these aliens out and we'll be in business. See you then!"

I frowned a little, and leaned in closer to the partition. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Am I? Oh, right... blah blah, don't talk to strangers, see you in a few." The line fell quiet with an abrupt __click___._

"Okay, I will... I love you too, Dad," I told the dead phone, if only to keep the flow going. I quickly hung it back up and turned to face Douglas with a shrug.

"That was weird..." he said, his brow slightly furrowed. "What took so long?"

"I dunno," I replied. "Is this some kind of Director's Cut?"

"Whoops, hang on." He loosened his tie and started to unbutton his shirt in front of me.

"Eww! What the hell are you doing!?"

"The player put the code in," he answered. "Just a sec."

I shuddered and left him there, and started in the direction of the restrooms, but I'd missed all of my cues and had been seriously thrown off. To make matters worse, the soundtrack was skipping like a broken record.

__This is all going to hell.__

I spun around and called out to him, "Are you still following me? Do I have to scream?"

"I haven't said any of my lines yet!" he yelled back, still fumbling with his belt. "Heather! I need to speak with you!"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not interested." I went ahead and pushed open the door to the ladies' room.

Inside, I was quick-turned to check the bathroom door five times through vigorous button mashing. _That weird old detective is out there, so I'm not leaving, _I thought repetitiously, before spinning back around. I walked forward and side-stepped to face the mirrors. Then I stood there.

For two. Damn. Hours.

The player hadn't hit the pause button__.__

The broken music skipped on. I stood and cycled through my frustrated idle animation about a hundred times, all the while praying for a power outage... or for their console to catch on fire.

_Please move me._

_Please move me._

_PLEASE move me..._

After what seemed like an eternity, the door creaked open. Claudia peeked her head in. _"What gives?"_ she mouthed silently, pointing to her watch—which I'd never noticed before.

I shrugged and gave up on the player; I could move myself now. "All I know is there's something really screwy going on with this game... and I don't like it," I said, shifting back and forth on my tired feet.

She stepped in and rested her back against the closed door. "I was starting to get worried... If they're going to walk away like that they're supposed to press pause. Maybe they're reading the wiki?"

"They're probably setting up to record the game or something. Everything was so off earlier... and this music, wow."

She nodded thoughtfully. "What do you suppose is happening?"

I crossed my arms and sighed. "No idea... I'd ask my dad if anything like this ever happened in his old game, but you're going to kill him. I don't think they're going for the Revenge ending. Hell, I don't even think the Beam's been unlocked yet. My head isn't glowing all weird-like." I frowned into the bathroom mirror one more time, just to be sure.

"Maybe I should hold off for a minute so you can talk to him," she replied. I stared dumbfounded while she fished through her pockets and lit up a cigarette.

I blinked. "Uhh... nah... don't. He said we should just stick to the plan and see what happens." I had a sudden urge to get going, and ran around the room in circles a few times.

"Player's back."

"Oh good," she said, flicking away her cancer stick and crushing it beneath her bare foot. "See you in a little while." She pulled open the door and made a swift exit.

_Finally._

I squeezed through the bathroom window and dropped down into the back alley. I ran up to the pile of junk nearby and was made to investigate it. _The road is blocked with empty boxes and stuff. I can't get through. _I turned around and saw the white van blocking the other way out as usual. The player (clearly easily distracted) opened up the menu and ran through my unlocked costumes. They selected the Transform Wand to change me into Princess Heart. I completed the pink sparkly animation, and was relieved to find that it had fixed the torturous skipping soundtrack. I sprinted over to the door up ahead. Once in the building, they started switching out my outfits again. I sighed and glanced down at the rapid costume changes. After a few minutes they set me back to the default clothing choice. I sat alone in the hall for a while unpaused, but they soon returned and we continued.

I turned left at first, but they must have remembered the game from last time. I made the correct right turn and passed through the door at the end of the hallway. Things seemed to be returning back to normal. The Mall floor was dirty, and I heard the creepy muffled sound effects coming from somewhere overhead. I ran down to the half-open shutter and ducked under it to get into the clothing store.

I loaded in and waited.

I waited some more.

Nothing was happening.

"What now..." I groaned and looked around. The Closer was missing. I crouched down and scooped the handgun up off of the floor, and then turned to Angela's dead character model lying a few feet away—unusually clean without her blood puddle and splatters. "How can you be dead if there's no monster?" I demanded.

She opened one eye and turned her head towards me.

"Oh... I forgot. They didn't give you a voice, did they?"

The model shook her head and moved it back into position.

_Strange._

"Sorry to bother you," I said, and scooted behind the counter to get to the other door.

_Gah, you forgot the ammo over there!_ I turned my head to gaze at it longingly, but the player went for the next hallway's door. I ran forward and took a left around the corner to pick up the Central Square Shopping Center map from the wall, then stayed frozen on the map view screen for at least five more minutes.

I raised my arm and stared at my pixely watch, growing impatient again.

Finally, I ran back and opened up the previously locked door and loaded out into the useless looping hallway. At least the Double Heads had bothered to show up, because two of them were patrolling the halls. The player made me fire several shots towards them, but their aim was terrible. I emptied my gun into the wall, then ran panicked down the hallway to the next door.

I found myself back in the 'dirty floor' part of the Mall. _Well, a lot of good that did, _I thought, as I ran up and once again crouched to get under the partly open shutter. The player noticed the boxes of ammo this time, and I stuck them into my inventory, silently thanking God that I probably wouldn't have to resort to the knife. I went through the door behind the counter, took a left turn to the Exit door, and climbed up the staircase.

We passed through the next hallway, checking every broken locked door on the way. The player eventually found the room with the Double Head chowing down on one of the permanent monster baits. Instead of killing it, they quick-turned me and left immediately. At least we were saving some bullets.

I made it into the room with the key hidden under the crates. I stared off into space while the player saved their game.

_Great... so they're actually gonna keep it..._

They skipped past picking up any of the items that were sitting on the shelf nearby, and exited through the door again. Back out in the hall, I examined and picked up the beam saber disguised as a door handle, then jogged up to the No Smoking door. Through there and out on the second floor platform I sprinted past three Closers rather than the usual two.

_Waitaminute..._

I turned around on my own for a double take, and it only confirmed my suspicions. The Closer meandering around on the left side of the platform looked oddly familiar. "What the hell!" I yelled at the thing. "Why weren't you in the clothing store? Angela's character model was alone in there!"

The Closer shrugged its huge beefy arms, incapable of speaking for itself.

I shot it a dark look before the player forced me back towards _Helen's Bakery_. I made a dash for the inside and slammed the door shut, leaving the two other Closers in the dust.

I must have been seeing things.

"V...Vincent?!"

There he was, sitting up on the counter next to the cash register. I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

"Hiya, Heather," he said, waving his right hand. The other was holding on to a half-eaten donut. "What took you so long?"

"Do you know where you are?" I demanded. I stepped up and grabbed his arm, dragging him down off of the counter. "This is the _Mall_, not the Hilltop Center! And move it, you're sitting on my flamethrower."

He straightened up and dusted some powdered sugar off of the front of his vest. "I know that, _jeez," _he said. "I just felt like doing a little exploring today... is that so wrong?" He had an unnerving sneer on his face, but it was perfectly in-character, so it fit him well. "Anyway... I brought you something."

"What," I sighed, checking down and around the counter for the missing flamethrower. The flyer on top read _Crispy toasted Dead_, but the item had mysteriously vanished.

"Did you take my unlockable weapon?"

"Noooo," he answered, and his tone had gone all whiny, "don't you wanna know what I have for you?"

"What is it," I grumbled, turning around.

"It's s-something r-r-really good," he replied, imitating Jasper Gein from Silent Hill 4: The Room.

"Stop it," I snapped. "You and Jasper _don't_ have the same voice actor. You didn't even get the stutter right."

"Fine, whatever. Just take this." He grabbed my wrist and pressed a smooth, black flat-shaped object into my hand.

"What is this..." I asked, turning it in my fingers, "...a smartphone!?"

"Yeah. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Vincent, have you lost your mind!" I cried. "Put this away! _Take it out of the game!_"

"But why?" He held up a second phone. "Look, I'm texting your old man as we speak. We were playing games on them earlier and he got me a couple of times." He grinned and pushed up his glasses. "He's a pretty sneaky guy you know, and not half as dumb as he looks!"

"Shut your mouth." He was making me angry, and he should have known better.

I laid the phone down on the counter and backed away, wringing my hands. "These things are gonna screw up the game. We're in the wrong time period... they haven't even been invented yet!"

He picked it back up and slid it into my lower right vest pocket. "Just take it... what's the worst that could happen? I can even let you know of anything else weird that's going on. Just keep it on you... you don't even have to use it if you don't want to."

"Where did you even get it from? How can it have pixels and polygons? Who drew the art?"

He walked in a slow circle with his usual theatrics, moving his hands as he talked. "Something _bizarre_ is going on. I can't wait to see where we go from here. Exciting, isn't it?"

"Doesn't this get to you at all? I feel like I'm going crazy! And listen, I'm getting my lines out of order and wrong! Jesus!" I marched over and snatched up the tongs, and pointed them at him as I turned back around. "_Don't_ let me catch you skulking around the Mall ever again. I'll see you at the Hilltop Center, alright? Behave yourself." I started for the door.

He shrugged his arms at me, but he was still grinning. "Whatever you say, Heather. You're the boss."

_Was that a cutscene? _I wondered, as I loaded out of the Bakery. Then I ran the long way around the platform until the player found the appropriate door. I continued back down the corridor, checking every broken locked doorknob on the way (again), until finally making it back into the key room.

The player tried to use the tongs, found that I wasn't close enough, and scooted me up until I was mashed against the wooden pallet. I finally got down on my hands and knees and retrieved the key. I rushed back out the door, swerving past the Numb Bodies strutting around just outside. I ran through the door at the end of the hall and made a beeline for _My Bestsellers_ to unlock it.

The black screen cleared and I froze. Unbelievably loud music was blaring from some sort of invisible speaker system.

_"BLUE SKY TO FOREVER! THE GREEN GRASS BLOWS IN THA WINNND, DAAANNNCIN'!"_

I clamped both hands over my ears involuntarily. It was the intro song, and it was way, _way_ too loud. I felt the player leave me again; probably to go mute their TV.

__How are we gonna do the Shakespeare puzzle with all this damn racket? __

I crouched down and crawled along the floor, as if it would help me escape the noise somehow. I picked up the Shakespeare Anthologies along the way, and stood up in front of the bookshelf.

_"SO NOW WHAT SHOULD I DO? I'M STRUNG OUT, ADDICTED TA YOU!"_

My ears had had more than enough of Mary Elizabeth's aural assault, and I found myself pulling open the menu. The background music option was still there, but the slide wasn't working properly. I had a choice between ear piercingly loud or off. I selected the latter. __That's a shame, 'cause I really like Akira's music at a decent volume, __I thought, but I _was_ glad to be able to hear myself think again.

The smartphone beeped in my pocket. I plucked it out and slid my thumb over the screen to unlock it. The contacts list had already been set up, and I scrolled through the names. Most of the characters in Silent Hill 3 were listed there, as well as several names from the other games in the series. Thankfully, nothing outside of Team Silent's realm.

It was Vincent texting me:

****What was all that noise in there? Having a party w/out me?****

I rolled my eyes and hit the side button to turn off the screen. For all I knew, the phone might have been the cause of it. Perhaps the god was manifesting its displeasure. I shoved the thing back down into my pocket, suddenly remembering how Shattered Memories had featured a smartphone.

__This is pure blasphemy.__

The player returned and made me arrange the Anthologies on the shelf to their satisfaction. I assumed that they probably weren't the brightest crayon in the box, because the Riddle Mode had been set on Easy. I prayed it would keep the game as short as possible while I moved over to the keypad to the right of the door.

I entered the number code and waited.

Nada.

I entered it again, in case one of the numbers hadn't taken.

Zip.

The player made me run back to the shelf to check the numbers again, though I was pretty sure we'd punched them in correctly.

I stood there alone for about twenty minutes. They'd gone AWOL again.

I ran myself back over to the door and mashed the code into the keypad three times. _Dammit! _I pounded hard on the door and gave it several solid kicks. _"Open the hell up! I do not need this right now!"_

I was huffing and puffing as I slid down into a sit against the door. I grumbled and pulled out the phone reluctantly, then started to look through the list of names again.

__Claudia's just on the other side. Maybe she can unlock it for me...__

I selected Claudia Wolf and pressed the call button. It rang one and a half times before being picked up—surprisingly fast.

"I am Claudia," said a voice on the other end.

"Yeah, I know that already. Listen, I'm on the other side of the door and the code's glitched out or something. Can you just walk forward twenty feet or so and unlock it?"

"Oh," she said. "Umm... hold, please."

There was a pause.

"Alessa?"

"Yeah, still here. Did you get it?"

"I don't think it works that way," she said, sounding a bit worried.

"Whaddaya mean? Just flip the lock so we can get this stupid cutscene over with."

"I don't see a lock from this side."

"Damn. How do puzzle doors work anyway?"

"I'm not really sure... Nothing like this has ever happened before."

"Oh, hold on I just thought of something. I'll call you back if it doesn't work, okay?" I hit the hangup button and ran back out into the open Mall area.

"Closer...?"

The same one as before shambled up to me and stood there, swaying slightly. I grabbed it by its large meaty arm thing and guided it through the entrance to the book store. I pointed over to the keypad door. "Can you like, punch that door open for me? You look strong enough..." I probably should have warned Claudia to move back from the door a bit, but rash decisions were part of my character design, so I just hoped for the best.

The Closer made its way past the shelves, swinging its arms as it moved. It stopped behind the counter, reeled back, and _SMASHED!_ the door open in one swift motion, partially ripping it off of its hinges. I walked up to check out the damage, amazed and relieved that it had actually worked.

Claudia was thankfully unhurt, and she pulled the door aside as she peeked into the room. "Wow! That did it," she said, looking pleased.

"Thanks, Closer. You're the man thing!" I went to high-five it, but it had already strolled away. I went to join Claudia in the elevator hallway.

"I can't believe we haven't even gotten to the Nightmare Mall yet," I said, shaking my head.

Claudia jogged back halfway up the corridor, got into position, and cleared her throat. "They've come to witness the begin—"

"Wait, wait," I interrupted. "My player's not back yet."

I started to space out while we stood there for another awkward few minutes. When I looked over at her, I saw that she was leaning back against the bulletin board off to the side. She had her phone out again, and was messing around on it.

"Did you get that from Vincent?" I asked.

"Mhm," she responded absently. "You know, I can't believe how useful these things are. Maybe Silent Hill games need more technology..."

I stared at her, incredulous. "What are you saying?"

"Well, it's like... everything we have is so retro. It's kind of sad."

I buried my face into my hand and turned away. "I can't believe _you_ of all people would say that... Silent Hill games have a very specific style. Grimy and old. Do you know how hard it is to make textures and items look like that? It's purely artistic." I sighed. "And you're a cult member. Your church is full of candles and stuff... and no TVs."

"That's true, but... there's a stereo in there somewhere."

"I thought that was Vincent's. He's different." I started to pace back and forth down a short length of the hall impatiently.

"Is your player ever coming back?" she asked, without looking away from the screen.

"I dunno, maybe we should just continue without them. This game needs to end already so things can get back to normal."

She tucked the phone back into her pocket and straightened her posture, then moved back into place. "They've come to witness the Beginning. The rebirth of Paradise, unspoiled by mankind."

I took a few steps closer. "What are you talking ab—hey... wait a second. Did you just say 'unspoiled'?"

"Yes. Why?"

"It's 'despoiled' not 'unspoiled'. Where are you getting 'unspoiled' from?"

"The script."

"No! Let me look it up to show you. And no, I'm not saying that having tech in the game is better. We'd be fine if everything hadn't gone all screwed up like this."

I pulled out the phone once again to run a search, but my Google-fu was pretty rusty. I opened up one of the first links, but all I found was some weird forum full of people arguing heatedly back and forth. I got out of there quick, and finally found something worth looking at.

"'Unspoiled' is HD Collection only," I told her.

"Oh. I thought this _was_ the HD Collection..."

"No way, because you sound like Donna Burke, and I sound like I could actually be seventeen," I replied. "So it's 'despoiled' not 'unspoiled', okay?"

"I suppose so." She was starting to look bored, not that I could really blame her.

"Uh-huh. Now we've already wasted enough time on this and you should probably go kill my dad before he gets fed up and wanders back to his old game or something."

She let out a small sigh and looked back over her shoulder. "All right then. I'll go pick up the Missionary."

"Okay."

"Good luck with everything," she said, as she turned and started to make her way up to the secret exit door.

"Yeah, catch you later," I called after her, still feeling a bit irritated.

__HD Collection, are you for real...? __I shuddered at the thought as I jogged up the hallway and hopped into the elevator. I wondered why Claudia would need to read the script again, seeing how we'd gone through it millions of times.

The elevator doors slid shut behind me, and I started to feel a little silly just before the next cutscene, knowing no one would be watching it. I folded my arms and rested back into the corner.

I must have been standing in a once in a lifetime unlucky position, because the next thing I knew, the radio came crashing down from the ceiling and_ thwacked_ me over the head.

I remember falling to my knees and holding the back of my head, and then everything went dark.

...


	2. Chapter 2: Get Out of Hell Free

****Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever****

****Chapter 2: Get Out of Hell Free****

...

I was being dragged.

__What...__

The hands let go of me and I came to a stop. I squinted up at the surprisingly bright halo of lights overhead. Two shadowy figures blocked my view when they leaned over.

"Heather, we got problems," one of them said. It sounded like Douglas.

I blinked. "Huh?" As my vision began to sharpen I could make him out, and Valtiel was kneeling across from him. Douglas handed me a sheet of paper with thick black lettering.

__No Nightmare World __it said.

I gasped. "W-what!?"

He nodded. "Valtiel said you never got that splitting headache back over by the elevator. Claudia must've forgotten to say her lines... or maybe she got them wrong."

"How the hell can Valtiel __say__ anything," I demanded. "He's nonverbal!"

"He found a marker and a stack of printer paper somewhere. It __has __been a pain in the ass communicating with him, though."

I rubbed my eyes hard and sat up. "Oh, for frick's sake... No Nightmare World? No 'hand of God'? This just isn't a Silent Hill game without it."

Valtiel hung his head low and held up a second piece of paper. __I don't even have a reason to be here now.__

I leaned forward and gave him a pat on the back. "Don't sa—write that, big guy. God's still in there somewhere. I just have to get super pissed off in some way, story-wise. Maybe when Claudia kills my dad this'll all clear up. I'm already pretty annoyed... and heck, at least __some __of the monsters decided to show up. I'm sure you'll be back to cranking valves in no time."

Valtiel began to look a little more hopeful. I assumed. I couldn't really read his features too well.

Douglas sighed and shook his head. "I didn't even get to see the Split Worm."

I glanced over at him. "Douglas..."

"Yeah?"

I looked away again quickly. "Put your damn clothes back on. This is _so_ awkward."

"But the player put in the code—"

"The 'player' is long gone... and I don't think they'll ever come back at this point."

He glanced down at himself. "This is only a retexture. I'm still wearing clothes... they only made the shirt and pants _look_ like they're missing."

"But you were undoing your shirt earlier! I saw it!"

"I dunno, Heather. Nothing is making any damn sense around here... and it's getting me really worried."

"You're tellin' me." I sighed and gazed around. I noticed that I'd been dragged almost all the way to the Mall exit, and we were all sitting in front of the Happy Burger. A sudden thought crept into my mind. "Hey... have you seen Vincent around anywhere?"

He took a deep breath. "Yeah, actually, I did. About... I wanna say... forty-five minutes ago. I was sitting over on that bench out front... and I hear the doors swing open. I thought it was gonna be you, but it was him instead. And I say to him, 'Hey Vincent, what are you doing here?' But he ignores me and keeps on walking. So I give him the old, 'What's the rush, where's the fire' and all that... then he stops and tosses me this weird thing. When I look up again he's already running down into the Subway level, and I didn't think it would be a good idea to chase after him, so I went looking for you. It was all pretty strange and... hell, if I didn't have that thing in my hand I would've thought I was imagining it all."

"A cell phone?"

"What's a 'sell phone'?"

I almost cracked up at that. "Well, it's—"

"This?" he interrupted, and held it up. I noticed that he'd been given the same model as mine but in a cooler color, and a small twinge of jealousy washed over me.

I shrugged it off.

"Uhh, yep... these might just be our problem," I said. "We should probably just throw them away and I'll go take the subway home so we can get on with this."

"You really wanna get this game over with, don't you?"

_Huh?_

I scoffed. "Every protagonist has a strong sense of duty to complete their game, even if we have to do it fifty billion times. _You_ should know that_._ You're my supporting role."

"Yeah... " he said, with a bit of reluctance. Then he hook his head and put on his hat. "Alright, fine," he said finally. "I'll stand over there looking clueless and you head to the next level. I'll see you at the Dead Harry cutscene."

"Roger," I said. "Should we do our lines?"

"Up to you. Do ya think anyone's watching?"

I got up and stood there for a moment to see if I felt anything. "Hmm... hard to say. But whatever, let's just do it anyway." I nodded over to Valtiel, and he crawled off out of the camera angle. Douglas followed me up through the glass double doors.

We scrambled to get into our respective positions.

"Heather!"

"It's you!" I eyed him suspiciously, even though I felt like a complete moron.

"What just happened?"

"You must be one of them—oh, goddammit. Screw this." I cut to the chase and ran over to the Subway tunnel staircase. "I'm taking the subway home."

He shrugged. "What should I do?"

"Hell if I know."

"Try to make God manifest, or this is going to be really boring!" he shouted suddenly through cupped hands.

"I know, I know!" I yelled back, before being hit with a pitch-black loading screen.

Once I'd entered the Subway tunnel, I walked forward and made a right, then broke out into a sprint past the repeating Fruity Rouge and Minmo cat food advertisements. I passed through the door at the end of the hallway and came out into the columned, relatively open turnstile area.

That's when I started to feel lost.

I rubbed the back of my sore head and looked around. I must have taken a harder whack than I thought. "I should know this place..." I muttered under my breath. Had I not run through it millions upon millions of times? Certainly I had, though never by myself. I walked up and peered into the glass of the employee booth next to the turnstiles. I squinted at the pictures decorating the wall inside, and could make out that a few of them were from the beginning of Silent Hill 2, where James had encountered his first Lying Figure.

"Huh, never noticed that before..."

I wandered around to the other side and found the Subway map pinned to a board. I picked it up and opened it.

__Holy crap this place is a maze...__

Tunnels and platforms were mirrored on either side, on multiple levels. Of course I had a vague memory of being guided through the place many times, but it still looked horribly confusing.

_...Hazel... No, Bergen Street... Platform... 3...?_

Suddenly I fell forward, and it felt like the wind had been knocked right out of me. I landed face down. "AH!" _Something_ had a hold of the back of my vest, and was shaking me back and forth. It unleashed a high-pitched howl and bit down into my right shoulder.

_"Ow! Stop it!"_ I cried, and much to my surprise—it did. The hefty weight lifted itself up off of my back, and I looked up and into the stare of a lone Double Head. I backed away into the corner of the wall to get away from it, but it just sat there.

"W-what the..." I stammered.

It slowly turned its split heads to the side... and it _almost_ looked cute. My heart was racing. It was then that I realized I had actually felt pain from a monster attack for the first time, and it had really scared the bejesus out of me. I glanced down as I rubbed my shoulder, but it hadn't really left much of a mark.

The Double Head let out an "Arf!"

I stared at it.

"Alessa was afraid of dogs... that's why you guys are in the game..." I said slowly.

The creature stood up and wagged what little stump of tail it had, then slowly moved over to me. I extended my hand out and touched its side with a mixture of fascination and disgust. Its bandages were a little slimy. I quickly wiped my hand off on the floor.

"I'm supposed to be afraid of you too... but I guess I'm really not..."

I rested my head back to the wall. "Thinking about this stuff is starting to burn me out." I looked around and realized the room was very dim. I felt around in my front pockets, and was shocked to find a pair of items wrapped up inside of a sheet of multipurpose paper. It was a note, written neatly in black script:

_You left these behind._  
_Don't give up._  
_We're all rooting for you!_

_Valtiel_

It was the radio and missing flashlight from the Nightmare Mall.

"How the hell did he cross over like that anyway?" I grumbled, but I was more than grateful for the gesture. I slowly got to my feet and dusted myself off before switching on the flashlight and tucking it into the appropriate pocket. Then I flipped the radio on and toyed around with the volume control. It settled on a low static hiss as it picked up on the monster sitting next to me. I took a few steps forward, but the white noise only grew louder.

"You're... coming with me?" I asked warily.

The monster nodded its two heads, but it stayed silent.

"Yeah, fine," I said, switching the radio off again. "But... I'm kind of lost. Might not be able to find the exit... Say... can you help me find it?"

The Double Head reared back and howled, and took off at an unusually high speed.

"Hey, wait!" I gave chase as fast as I could, but it had already slowed down enough for me to follow without losing it. We ran east, according to the map, and made a right turn after a flight of stairs. The chained up _Jacob's Ladder_ style gate hadn't been as far away as I'd thought.

"Oh yeah... I forgot about this," I muttered, rattling the bars in frustration.

The monster sat there for a moment, and then suddenly took off down the tunnel again. I watched it go, then turned back to face the gate. I pulled as hard as I could on the chain, but the nut was screwed on pretty tight, and I couldn't turn it with just my hands.

I was startled as I heard what sounded like fast and light footsteps running behind me, and skittishly turned back with the handgun clenched in my right hand.

To my relief, it was only the Double Head, and it had the nutcracker wedged in the teeth of one of its split heads.

"Wow, thanks!" I blurted out, as it dropped the item on the floor. I bent down to pick it up, and then wheeled around to use it on the locked gate. The chain dropped to the ground, and the gate swung itself open without much of an animation.

I glanced back behind my shoulder. "Are you really gonna help me out through this whole level...?" I asked cautiously.

The Double Head panted and started to turn back.

"Well, I guess it's fine for a _little_ while. I'm so confused about this whole thing... and it doesn't help that my player left me hanging."

The Double Head circled back around and joined my party once again. I wondered to myself if I was the one escorting it, or possibly, that I might be the escort. Maybe it was just a temporary partnership of two fully capable fighters, but that was unheard of in any true Silent Hill game.

We jogged down the next staircase and made a right into the broken down subway train. Inside, I grabbed two boxes of ammo sitting on the seats, and moved up to the shotgun in its place inside the gift box. I snatched it up and we exited the car again. Up ahead, I saw an Insane Cancer resting on the ground, blocking the stairway off to the right.

I didn't really feel like messing around with it, so I just continued running alongside the train, but it shot up and side stepped in front of me. I bumped right into it and stumbled backwards, and then fell back on my butt.

"Watch where you're going!" I shouted at it. The Double Head threw itself up between us, like it was trying to protect me. I rolled my eyes and got back up, checking to make sure nothing had dropped out of my inventory.

The Insane Cancer grunted, but stayed put.

"You know, I never liked your type anyway. I_ guess_ the symbolism's there somewhere, but I don't see it. I think Ito was just being a smartass... or maybe he just wanted to draw a fat guy." I went ahead and equipped my newly acquired boomstick, in case it was going to give us any trouble, then patted the Double Head's rear end and it turned back to me. I kept the gun aimed on the Insane Cancer as we passed it by. We turned and hurried down the staircase.

The loading screen at the bottom seemed to hang up for a few extra seconds, and when I came to, I heard the smartphone beep inside of my pocket. I'd completely forgotten about it, and as I pulled it out I was seriously considering just hurling it against the wall.

It was Vincent again:

****Haha remmember wheni was like. they looked like monsters to you/?****

I scowled, and tried to resist, but I had to say something:

****Learn how to type, moron. Then STFU. ****

Satisfied, I sent off the text and jammed the phone back into my pocket. It beeped again a moment later but I ignored it.

"I have to get home," I told the Double Head. "I should probably talk to my dad about all of this... but I don't wanna use this lousy phone anymore than I have to. Do you think he'll still be alive when I get there? Of course I hope he isn't... but he might have some advice. Should I ask Claudia to keep him alive?"

The creature cocked its split heads to the side, just as I'd anticipated.

I sighed, shaking my head. "Now I'm asking nonverbal monsters about stuff... Makes me almost wish Lisa was in this game."

We continued on until we'd arrived at the marked Platform 3, and I motioned for the Double Head to wait. I jumped down onto the tracks and sprinted over to check the red lit broken locked door and then turned back around and ran as fast as I could to scramble back up. It was a wasted effort, as I noted the distinct lack of dog-like nipping urging me up onto the ledge.

At first I thought nothing had happened, but after a few seconds I heard the sound of the train. It was moving at a slower speed than it should have been, but I was so glad to see it, it didn't matter.

We ran up along the side of the train cars. I led the way to the right, up and then down the two staircases to avoid the impassable gate. The subway doors were open and waiting at the far end. I pushed the Double Head through them, then hopped in at the last second before they closed.

Inside the first car I walked forward a few steps before stumbling across a Halo of the Sun painted on the floor in bright red. A save point.

_Should I...?_

Was the game really worth saving? I'd been playing by myself for a while now, and cheating my way through. The ranking was going to suck no doubt, because the player was some sort of idiot who left their games unpaused for long periods of time.

I crouched down next to the save point with my hands on my knees and stared into it, unsure of how it worked exactly. I peered at the fluorescent red paint, trying my best to concentrate. The Double Head pranced over to join me. My vision flashed and went completely red, and the data appeared in front of it, but I frowned when I noticed that I could see both of our reflections.

I gently pushed the monster out of the way. "Shoo, you're messing me up."

The screen blinked red again, and it finally happened—I think.

****01\. In the train 06: 09: 09****

"Six hours to get through the Subway?" I shouted. "Freakin' hell!"

I immediately regretted saving. The game ranking would be utter crap, and I'd be lucky to get four stars. I sighed, but then remembered that if I could just get through this game, things might return to normal once and for all. It was the only hope I had left to cling on to. I stood back up straight and cycled through my inventory to switch out my equipped weapon to the handgun, then jogged up to the door to the next car ahead. "C'mon, let's go."

I opened the door, fell forward, and abruptly died on the tracks.

...


	3. Chapter 3: Troublemaker

****Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever****

****Chapter 3: Troublemaker****

...

I immediately regretted saving. The game ranking would be utter crap, and I'd be lucky to get four stars. I sighed, but then remembered that if I could just get through this game, things might return to normal once and for all. It was the only hope I had left to cling on to. I stood back up straight and cycled through my inventory to switch out my equipped weapon to the handgun, then jogged up to the door to the next car ahead. "C'mon, let's go."

My hand touched the door handle, but I froze up when an odd feeling passed over me. I spun around on my heel and ran up to grab the handle of the door on the opposite side instead. I eased it open with an animation not found anywhere on the game disc or files.

"Numb Bodies? Are you in here?"

The second car was empty. I motioned for the Double Head to follow, but stay back a little. We trotted up to the third car, and then the next, and so forth.

The second to last car had all of them gathered inside, and there seemed to be a few more than usual.

"Oh... hey guys," I said, quickly hiding my gun out of view. "What are you all doing in here?"

__They can't talk, idiot. __I chuckled. "Sorry, I forgot you can't answer me."

The Numb Bodies leaned in close to each other like a huddle and cried their strange wail in varying degrees of volume. I glanced down at the Double Head, who appeared to be listening in.

"Did I offend them?" I asked nervously, before remembering that the Double Head was also incapable of speech. I smacked my forehead. "Ugh, never mind." I marched up to the Numb Body gathering and looked around at them. "Look, I'm sure you all probably already know this, but our game has gone seriously out of whack."

The Numb Bodies seemed to nod in agreement, and let loose a few more soft wails.

"So, I'm calling a one-game truce, okay? I need to get through this run as fast as I can, and if you guys could help me out by not body slamming me into the ground, it would be uh... really... ...helpful."

The monsters turned away from me again, and leaned in to one another, like they were talking it over.

"Okay...?" I asked. They were taking quite a while, and patience had never really been built into my design. Finally, they all seemed to be nodding and jumping around in satisfaction. Then they moved back from the door and made a way for us to get past.

"Thanks... I appreciate it. Really." I went to high-five a couple of them, but then noticed they had no damn arms. I stuck my right hand awkwardly into my side skirt pocket as I opened the door with my left.

"I might just juke past you all next time!" I said, before disappearing into the loading screen.

Once the black screen had cleared, I looked down at the Double Head sniffing around the floor. "Hey... wasn't there supposed to be an Insane Cancer in there somewhere?"

The monster howled a quick reply that might have been a "Yes."

"Weird... wonder where it went. Oh hey, I have a question to ask since it seems like I can kind of understand you right now. Are all monsters unique, or are you guys just copies who think the same thing? Does it go by type?"

The creature tilted its split heads to the side, like it might have been doing some thinking.

"If I can convince one Slurper to not chew my leg off, will all of the Slurpers know not to?"

Once again, the Double Head looked befuddled.

I shrugged. "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it then." I stepped up a couple of feet so the train car could throw me forward, but the brakes squealed their way to a gentle stop for the first time that I could remember. I led the way through the doors as they slid open, and we stepped out onto the platform.

"Sometimes I feel like you're only following me so I have someone to talk to... like it's a convenience to someone," I told the monster, as we plodded along. I took a few seconds to save my game on the wall. We made a left turn and continued on until we found a blue door on the right. We passed through it.

"I mean, I'm really thankful for your help earlier... but it just feels a little _too _convenient... And I don't wanna get attached, either... do you understand?"

The Double Head peered up at me with its blank white eyes, and it started to look a little sad as we walked down an entirely overdone stairway.

"I know... But you're a monster. I'm a protagonist. _You're_ an enemy_. _This just isn't gonna work out in the end."

The Double Head stopped dead in its tracks and sat down on a step, and I could swear it looked depressed. I plopped down next to it and gingerly put an arm around it. "Aw, c'mon, don't be that way. Besides, do you know what my dad would say if he could see us right now? I've got a serious legacy to uphold..."

The monster whined softly, and it only made me feel worse. "Don't do that. I really do like you... It's just... people are gonna start talking. And good god, I can't let Vincent see us together. I'd _never_ hear the end of it."

It whined again and pawed at me with its bandaged up limb.

"And, well... you know I'm really Alessa, don't you? And dog type monsters are supposed to be the scariest thing ever! They even put you guys in two games! Ya know, besides those things in The Room. But I'm not in that, so..."

We sat in silence for while longer.

I flopped back on the staircase. "Okay, you know what? Fine. Just until the end of this game. I still feel like I'm gonna catch hell for it, though..."

The monster let out a long howl and wagged its tail stump so hard, some of the bandages looked like they were coming loose. I smiled a little, then stood back up and dusted myself off. "Let's go."

At the bottom of the stairs and to the left was a broken locked gate. We made a right down to the long stretch of hallway, and then broke out into a run to get to the door faster. Once we passed through, I made an incorrect turn, and slammed my face into a second locked gate. "Ow!" I rubbed my eyes and nose and waited for the stars to fade.

"It's so weird..." I said slowly. "I'm actually feeling pain in this game. Like, for reals. Before I think I was just pretending and using my audio files to fake it..."

The Double Head whined gently, like it may have been concerned.

"And I actually feel kinda hungry, too... even though looking at you makes me sick a lot of the time. But we are in the Sewer and I'm sure it won't last long." I turned to face the right way and pointed my flashlight up ahead. "Let's just get through this level."

Suddenly, a long series of annoying-as-hell, painfully repetitive screeches filled the air.

_Oh no._

_So_ damn loud. _So_ damn annoying. It had to be a Pendulum.

I pointed my flashlight's beam down the dark corridor and there it was. "Hey!" I shouted at it. "Sit down and shut up for a second!"

The Pendulum ignored anything I tried to say, and instead barreled through the air in our direction. I quickly ducked out of the way and watched as it turned around, still spinning, still screeching.

__It can't hear me over its own freaking sound effects... __

"Come, doggy thing!" I commanded, and we both made a long mad dash for the next blue door.

We loaded in at the same time and stopped for a moment to catch our breath. I glanced around. The room looked pretty ordinary... but something felt like it was missing.

__The maul.__

It wasn't an unlockable. Someone _had_ to have stolen it.

"Someone took my maul. I can't believe it," I huffed. "Yeah, it's heavy and annoying to use, but I still wanted to collect it for completion purposes..."

The Double Head gave a low sympathy whine.

"But ya know, I noticed at least _one_ good thing. Stuff hasn't gone completely to hell here. The train was slow and my maul's missing... but that's it, really. I'd say we're in pretty good shape so far." I walked over and peeled the Underpass map off of the wall, and opened it up to the view screen.

__This place doesn't look too bad... __

I began to feel a lot better.

We started for the door, but I paused to take a look at the yellow safety helmets hanging up on the wall. "Hmm... you wanna try one on? Or maybe two?"

The Double Head seemed to shake its split heads "No."

"Yeah, not really my style either," I snickered, as I went for the door.

We passed by a few quiet corridors, and a couple of bored-looking Numb Bodies—even a few of the larger ones. I nodded to them as we sprinted past and went to collect the empty wine bottle. We hurried down an _extremely_ long tunnel, and had to stop to catch our breath again. Then we took a right down a short hallway. The next door led into an ancient office room with some junk-filled lockers, and a wall with an old chalkboard. I ran over and filled up the empty wine bottle with kerosene from the space heater in the corner, and saved my game again.

"I remember this part," I said, and gave the monster a reassuring smile. "We're really moving now."

We exited the room and rounded a left corner, then jogged back up the parallel hallway. We passed by three more Numb Bodies, standing together and wailing softly to each other like a water cooler meeting. Cute, in a weird kind of way. Up ahead, I opened the next blue door. The room inside smelled absolutely disgusting and judging by the strange candy cane painted railings, I knew _exactly_ where we were. I walked up to the machine and opened my menu to use the oil-filled bottle on the fuel tank, and then turned and moved over to the right side to press the switch. The nasty stagnant water drained down the ladder, and the Double Head followed as I walked over and peered down into the hole.

I covered my nose with the back of my hand and looked at the critter sitting next to me. "Whaddaya think? Can you make it down?"

The dog-like thing dropped down into the hole before I could say anything else. I reached forward and grabbed the rungs of the ladder, wondering if it had actually survived the fall. The blackness of the loading screen soon took me away.

Amazingly, at the bottom, the Double Head had taken very little damage. I thumped it on the back for a job well done while we sprinted our way up the slimy staircase, and then up and over another set of stairs made out of dull rusty metal. _Another _blue door awaited. We crossed a short overpass bridge and down a long set of stairs, then loaded into an outdoor area with some mucky water. "Follow me," I said, lighting the way with my flashlight's beam, aware that monsters have a hard time seeing in the dark. The next door opened into another way-too-long stairway, and we were both panting as we ran past a second bridge.

"Wait!" I skidded to a halt and turned around. I ran back onto the bridge to have a look over the edge. "There's a monster that's supposed to be down there..." I pointed. "I remember it."

We both shrugged—well I did anyway—and we continued on. I opened the door to the gross-smelling trash heap room and picked up the dryer off of the chair. Unsurprisingly, the Sewer Monster still wasn't around when we retraced our path back over the bridge. I was starting to get pretty tired, but running down the stairs was much easier than going up and we were soon on our way to the next outdoor area. We ran around, rather than hop into the muck, and my hand reached for the doorknob of the next blue door.

I hesitated before opening it. I thought I heard something weird... like out of place country music coming through the door.

"What the hell..." I whispered. I leaned forward and pressed my ear against it. I was caught off balance as the door swung itself open, and I fell right into the room. "Aah!"_  
_

It was the Sewer's security office. The desk lamps and monitors were all turned on, the twangy music was blaring, and inside were three, yes,_ three_ Sewer Fairies.

Three of them.

The bug-eyed Sewer Fairy holding onto the doorknob gasped and screamed, "A monster! Aaahhh! _Kill it!"_

The Double Head growled deep in its throat, and looked like it was about to lunge.

_"NO!"_ I grabbed her pipe at the last second, just before it hit the Double Head. "Stop, wait!" I cursed as I got to my feet and shoved her away. "Listen, it's my monster, okay? Don't hurt it." I turned my attention to my stinging hand, flexing my fingers to see if I'd broken anything. It sure felt like I had.

The music cut off.

"_Your_ monster...? Like... your _pet_ monster?" She let out a giggle and put her hands on her hips like she was about to scold a child. "Who do you think _you_ are, Claudia or something?"

"Shut up," I grumbled. "Look, our game is all _kinds_ of screwed up if you hadn't noticed." I peered over her shoulder. "There are two extra Sewer Fairies behind you. That's two TOO MANY." I raised my voice again in irritation, like she could really blame me for breaking one lousy rule.

She snickered and spoke again in her whimsical voice. "I'll have you know that they aren't copies... Their names are Jose and Jaime. They're real characters."

"WHAT!" I screamed. "The guys who work in this dump!? They're not supposed to be FAIRIES! They're DEAD! They don't even have models or voice actors!"

She gave a short chuckle, and it sounded absolutely heavenly. "Yes, and I am the other guy with the famous knife skillz!"

My eyes went wide. "NO... no you aren't. Okay, that's enough. Quit screwing around. Can I at least have my gold and silver pipes? I think I deserve them after all this trouble."

She sneered the most beautiful sneer I'd ever seen. "Why do you need them, monster lover? Whose brains are you gonna bash in?"

I sighed as if admitting a defeat. "That gold pipe looked so snazzy, I really just wanted to sell it... Anyway, my point is you guys should _not_ be here. There should only be _one_ Fairy, and she doesn't have a name and furthermore..." I pointed at the two other Fairies. "You two are_ not_ Jose and Jaime. They're only mentioned once in a tiny little memo in this room, which I see is conveniently missing."

"I don't have a name, but I'm the guy with the wicked knifework who wanted to use a hand grenade on the monster over in the next room," she replied lyrically.

"I think I need to sit down..." I said, and slid into a desk chair in complete shock. The Double Head rested its heads on my knee and looked up at me. I buried my face down into my hands, even though they smelled super gross from climbing down the ladder earlier.

_My whole world has gone insane._

"Knifework guy is dead," I said at last.

"No, I'm right here," she said, followed by an alluring smile.

"Jose and Jaime are dead too."

"No, they're over there looking at Youtube videos on their phones because they have nothing better to do. They can't talk, you see."

"That's because they don't have voice act—smartphones?" I spun around in the chair to have a look at the Sewer Fairy imposters. They were both browsing away on mobile devices.

"Smartph— ...Vincent," I stuttered. "Dammit. I should've known he would have something to do with this."

"I've said too much," she replied, and made a zipper motion over her lips with an angelic hand.

"Why'd he do it? HOW'D he do it?" I demanded.

"I'm not sure," she practically sang. "He didn't seem satisfied and left shortly after. Oh! But... he _did_ say we were hot."

"Huh? I always thought he was asexual like the rest of us. I mean, c'mon. Vincent? Really?"

She nodded her head once. "Oh yes, he liked us at first. But when I told him we were all men, he stormed off rather quickly. Not that there's anything wrong with that... we weren't too interested, either."

I couldn't help but laugh as I got up out of the chair. "Oh my God... Okay, then. Sorry I thought you were all women at first... And ya know what, I'm sorry for denying your existence, too."

The Fairy smiled in a most captivating way. "That's all right. For some reason, I feel as though I may have made a similar mistake in the past."

"Uhh, I hate to ask this. Can I please have those pipes?"

The three Sewer Fairies nodded among themselves, and then presented me with one pipe each. A steel, silver, and gold pipe were simultaneously added to my inventory.

"Thanks... um... dudes. You guys are alright. Sorry about the misunderstanding. This screwy game is really... getting to me." I tapped my forehead and continued through to the next area with the Double Head at my heels.


	4. Chapter 4: Gone Rogue

****Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever****

****Chapter 4: Gone Rogue****

__I don't want to think so...__

__...but maybe this is all just going on in my head.__

__That radio could have hit me a lot harder than I thought, and now I'm lying unconscious in a hospital bed...__

__I don't know what's real anymore...__

__...__

__Cybil said Cheryl was heading towards the—__

The Double Head gave a long, mournful howl, snapping me out of it. "Oh, sorry," I said, blinking a little. "Hey... have we run into any Nurses yet?"

The dog-shaped thing growled a short "No," and gave me a funny look with both of its faces.

"Oh, yeah. We're still in the Sewer. My bad." I looked around to see that we had arrived in the room with the Sewer Monster in the water, but the bright splattering of blood on the walls and doors was missing.

More importantly, there was no Sewer Monster.

"Crap, what am I gonna do with this old dryer," I whined. "I don't want it clogging up my inventory anymore..." I strokde up to the wall outlet and used it anyway, just to get rid of it.

The Double Head and I watched the semi-impressive light display, and continued across the small metal bridge unscathed. I already had all three of my pipes, so I ignored the possibility of a bonus Sewer Fairy. We exited through the door, crossed the next hallway, and passed through yet another blue door. It was a mucky water area again, and the screeching of ten thousand Pendulums echoed in the air, which meant there were at least two or three.

I groaned when we were forced to hop down into the nasty water, and again when we climbed back up onto the ledge to get to the new door. After the next screen, The Double Head shook its wet fur and bandages, and brown liquid flew all over the place.

"Hey, watch it!" I shouted, and stepped back in disgust. "Eww, you smell so much worse now. Actually, we both do... I could really use a shower."

The Double Head growled softly.

"I know, you probably don't care... I guess it's impossible for game characters to use a bathtub anyway. At least Silent Hill ones." I paused for a moment and sighed. "I wonder if any of the other protagonists have ever had this much trouble before..."

We hurried down another obscenely long stairway, ignoring a couple of creepy sound effects thrown in for good measure, and then back up the seemingly same set of stairs still going in the same direction. Likely some type of subtle symbolism. After so many steps and such a long tunnel, we had to stop to catch our breath again, and then _another_ blue door was waiting for us. Through that was a large metal staircase, and at the very top, a ladder.

"Uh oh," I said, looking up.

The Double Head let out a long doggy whine, and I watched it try to jump up onto the first few rungs.

"Here, let me help."

Somehow, I lifted it up onto the middle step, and pushed its rear end up through the top of the opening. My arms and legs were starting to burn, but I managed to climb up myself.

"You'd think Henry could've done that with Eileen," I scoffed.

We ran together past a bunch of construction scenery, made a right turn, and I stopped to save my game on a Halo of the Sun painted on top of a barrel. I led the way through the double doors nearby. Down the hall and up another set of stairs we went, while assorted crashing and banging noises seemed to haunt our every step.

"This isn't my favorite level," I whispered. "But it's better than that damn Subway."

Most floors were locked "for safety's sake" (whatever that meant), so naturally we would have to find a way to get into those areas. I led my monster up each floor, checking every door along the way in case something was different. Finally, the fifth floor door opened and we entered the half-finished building. I jogged down the hall and peeked into the bathroom to have a listen to the familiar rhythmic footstep sound effects from the floor above. Then we loaded through the door on the right.

Outside, we came across the 'Black Cat' wall with the silencer and the random hanging legs. I gave the plaster a few good smacks with my steel pipe and it crumbled easily. I sneezed, then reached down to pick the item up out of the dusty rubble.

Behind us was the squatter's cardboard mansion, and a multitude of old beer bottles and miscellaneous garbage. I turned around and noticed a health drink sitting on top of one of the boxes. I grabbed it and moved over to the gross filthy mattress beside the hole. I selected 'Yes' on the prompt to drop it down to the level below, and waited half a second for the black screen to clear. The scene hadn't been animated, but the mattress was gone now, and I knew it was safe to drop down.

I gave the Double Head a gentle nudge over the edge with my boot. "Move over, I'm coming down!" Then hopped down myself.

We ducked through the nearby hole in the wall, and I nearly slipped off the edge of a narrow piece of scaffolding. "Whoa!" The Double Head pulled back on my vest with both sets of its teeth, saving me from having to reload the game. "THANKS!" I yelled, over the hellish screeching of Pendulums that were blowing out our eardrums. We moved away from them as fast as we dared, took a left turn, and went to climb into the window of the Hilltop Center.

I collapsed down into one of the comfy leather chairs to rest for a minute. "Thank goodness we made it," I said, looking over at the monster. "I'm getting pretty tired... Playing your own game is a lot of work."

The Double Head seemed to nod in agreement.

"Vincent's in here somewhere, and I really need to have a word with him. Can you hang back a little just before our cutscene?"

The Double head arfed, which I took as a "Yes."

"Thanks for being so understanding," I said, and pulled myself back up.

We wandered down an empty corridor, trying out a couple of the broken locked doors, until we found the mannequin jump scare room. "Heads up," I warned, not completely getting the joke at first, as I moved to the other side of the shelves to grab the box of shotgun ammo. The mannequin played its audio scream and its bloody head flew off as planned. "That's my scream Akira used, not sure why," I told the Double Head. "But sometimes they mix it up and it's a different one."

Down the hall and through another door. I pointed my flashlight beam around a corner and saw that a pair of Double Heads were napping nearby against the wall together. "Hey," I called out to them, and they both lifted their four heads and started to pant in unison. I was beginning to suspect that my earlier theory on monster types may have been correct, because they were clearly in no mood to chase me around. I also noticed that they were both slightly smaller than __my __monster. I wasn't quite sure of what to make of that, but I settled on the possibility that perhaps mine had grown up just a bit through our few hours together. I shrugged it off and we continued.

We passed through another hallway, checking all of the doors, until I finally found the one leading into Monica's Dance Studio. In the office, I broke into some poor sucker's desk using my pipe for leverage on the drawer. Inside was the rope, which I stuck into my inventory. "That was too easy," I whispered.

We returned to the hallway and made our way to the stairwell. Upstairs on the fifth floor was the Gallery of Fine Arts. I quickly ran to where my household's favorite weapon was, hidden away in a back storage room. The katana was still there, thankfully, and I picked it up before moving on. The KMN Auto Parts area was next, and on the shelf inside I found the jack. We loaded back out to the stairwell and trotted down to the third floor.

"Here's what I'm gonna do," I said, as we approached the elevator door left open a crack. "I'll tie some of the rope around you and lower you down, then I'll tie it to something and climb down. Got it?"

The Double Head yipped an encouraging yip, and I wrapped the rope securely around it in several places. "Maybe I should tie your head back together while I'm at it," I mused. "Okay, here we go."

I used the jack on the elevator doors, which the developers _had_ bothered to animate, even though I couldn't actually tell what my hands were doing.

"Ready?"

"Arf!"

I scooted the Double Head towards the edge with my boot, and held the rope wound tightly around both of my hands and wrists. I tried to brace myself against the doors, but the monster was a lot heavier than I thought.

Like, way, way heavy.

I slipped forward and we plummeted down the elevator shaft, one after the other.

...

_Oww..._

I woke up to the high-pitched sound of dog-like whining and a godawful stench.

"How long was I out?" I asked, wiping the excess monster drool off of my cheek. The Double Head whined softly again, and I saw that I had most likely landed on it, because it seemed to be hurt quite badly.

"Son of a bitch," I muttered, a bit uncharacteristically, while I slowly sat up to inspect the damage. "Oh god... I'm sorry. That was a pretty stupid idea, wasn't it?" I reached over and patted its sticky bandages apologetically. The monster whimpered a pitiful sound, like it may have forgiven me already.

It made me feel worse, but at least_ I_ hadn't gotten too hurt. My menu screen showed I was only blinking on medium yellow. I dug into my pocket for the single health drink I'd picked up in my adventures. I twisted the lid off and started to take a sip, but stopped and glanced over.

"Ya know... this whole thing really was my fault," I said. "Here, you can have it." Then I wondered if lesser monsters were capable of getting any benefit out of health items.

I looped an arm around the Double Head, helping it hold its split faces together, and poured the liquid slowly out into my cupped hand. It was a bit awkward, and we spilled some, but the monster managed to lap up most of the drink. To my relief it seemed to do the trick, and soon the creature had risen to its feet with a good hard shake. It then gave me a look of such genuine gratitude, I couldn't help but smile. I wiped my hands off on my skirt and slowly stood up, ignoring the moderate amount of pain I was in.

"Okay, now where the hell are we? This area isn't really in the game..."

We were probably on the first floor by now, and Vincent was most definitely on the second, only he was...

_...in the Green Ridge Mental Health Clinic..._

I froze up for what seemed like the millionth time.

"He's supposed to be in the Nightmare Hilltop Center..."

The monster nodded.

"But... there isn't one." I said slowly.

Awkward silence followed.

I sighed and gazed around the elevator shaft. We seemed to be standing on top of the elevator itself, and directly in front of us was a set of doors. I wedged my steel pipe between the crack and the Double Head grabbed two mouthfuls of my clothing to help out while I pulled back on the weapon with all of my might.

The doors miraculously opened, and we came out into the Hilltop Center lobby. I'd never actually seen it in the non-nightmare form, so I took a few minutes to have a look around. Of course there was no Glutton blocking the way of the front entrance, no crappy fairy tale pages, and no reason to recite _Tu Fui, Ego Eris._ I frowned as I turned and moved away from the glass doors. A strange persistent sound was echoing throughout the dark hallway, like a mixture of voices and heavy bass music. I crept carefully and quietly towards the sound and equipped my handgun. The Double Head stayed right on my tail.

The Last Drop Cafe was to the left of the restrooms facing south. I silently tried the doorknob. It had been left unlocked, and I took a second to ready my weapon. "Wait," I whispered. Then I took a deep breath. I twisted the knob and raised my right leg, kicking the door open with a _slam!_ Unsure of what to expect, I was already pointing my gun into the room when the black screen cleared. But what I saw next nearly made my jaw drop to the floor.

The whole cafe was lit up cheerfully, and mounted on the wall inside were numerous televisions blaring various Real World channels.

"What the hell!"

At least the place wasn't crammed full of weird people like I'd half been expecting. Nevertheless, I walked in a few steps cautiously and scanned the room.

Messy plates of food and drink were strewn about on the counter tops and tables. Some half eaten, most only picked at. There were wine glasses and tipped over bottles scattered everywhere. The cutlery was all fine silver, and the plates and bowls made out of bone china. Nothing like what you'd find in a typical hole in the wall coffee shop. This stuff looked expensive, and not at all Silent Hillesque (unless you counted the Baldwin residence). I rubbed my eyes for the thousandth time and wandered in further. The futuristic TVs were cranked up entirely too loud, clouding over the few thoughts my head could manage. There were nine mounted on a rack in a square of rows and columns, with a tenth HD flat screen to the left that took up most of the wall. That one was broadcasting snow with an occasional obscure flash.

A tacky purple sofa with velvet pillows was shoved into one corner of the room. There was a coffee table parked in front of it, and on top I spotted several bottles of top shelf booze. The nice stuff. Almost all of them appeared to be been opened and sampled from, and more upturned glassware lay scattered amongst the clutter. The whole room reeked heavily of alcohol, in fact. _Someone_ had been getting their drink on.

The Double Head sat shivering slightly. It seemed too afraid to enter, and stayed right by the entrance.

"This... is so..." I paused, staring down at the table to the side of me. It was covered in porno mags, a few of which may have been stolen from Mike's apartment in Silent Hill 4: The Room. "Th-this is..." I stammered, still trembling from shock.

My hand slid into my right vest pocket to recover the long-forgotten phone. I tried to unlock it, but my fingers were shaking too much. After a couple of failed attempts, I opened it up and scrolled over to the texting window. I had one missed message.

Vincent:

****Iknow about thr pleasures of THIS. world****

I tucked the phone away into my pocket again, blinking hard.

"Really?"

I took a few deep breaths. Then I started to laugh...

I laughed and laughed.

And I couldn't stop.

Not for a long time.

...

It got pretty uncomfortable, actually.

__I'm losing my damn marbles.__

I wasn't quite sure of what had come over me. Delirium, probably. Whatever it was finally loosened its grip on my psyche. I was still snickering a little bit, but eventually managed to stop. "It's just so_... Yeah_... That's him alright. God, but those magazines... But I guess that explains those Sewer Fairies he made." I wiped my hands down my arms, like I was trying to somehow clean myself off after having walked in there.

"What a freak," I muttered. I shook my head and pulled the door shut, then turned and looked down at the monster. "My house is just up the street," I told it. "I need you to chill out somewhere while I stop in for a couple of cutscenes with Claudia and Douglas. Okay?"

"Arf!"

We made our way back to the front entrance side by side, and I gave it a pat as we walked outside together.


	5. Chapter 5: Many Awkward Meetings

****Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever****

****Chapter 5: Many Awkward Meetings****

I realized just how sore and tired I'd gotten as we trudged our way up the darkened street towards the Daisy Villa Apartments. I wondered if I could actually fall asleep during the ride to Silent Hill with Douglas. Then, I began to contemplate just how in the hell I was going to go about sneaking the Double Head into the car with us. I really did want to take it with me, but I had serious doubts he would understand how I could be hanging out with some lesser critter in my party.

__Just play it cool, he might be okay with it...__

The Apartment building was just up the road ahead, then down a walkway to the left. I would need to park the monster somewhere close by, but somewhere it wouldn't scare the hell out of Douglas and cause him to shoot it (assuming his gun worked).

We soon arrived at the back entrance. "Wait here," I instructed, "and don't make any noise no matter what. I'll come pick you up when I'm ready, 'kay?"

The monster nodded its split heads and laid down next to the bottom step. It looked exhausted.

In the hallway inside, I started out at a sprint towards the Halo of the Sun painted on the bulletin board out front. I peered into it and my vision flashed red as usual, but something felt a little off this time, and my previous save must have gotten corrupted, because the data I entered next overwrote nothing.

****01 Apt. Hall 09: 09: 06****

"Nine hours... good Lord," I sighed. Could my ranking sink any lower than one star? I assumed that it would, because my time sucked so bad, and I'd hardly picked up enough supplies or items, or killed any enemies or bosses. Blacking out in those elevators for unknown periods of time hadn't helped one bit.

The only working apartment door, room 102, was waiting for me when I turned back around. I hurried over to it and used up my house key, then entered the loading screen to wait for one of the saddest cutscenes in the entire series.

__Please be dead, or please somehow just be the Revenge ending, __I prayed. The black screen cleared and I looked up ahead. Everything appeared to be running normally. I saw the armchair turned towards the old television set, and my dad's lifeless arm resting upon it. Relieved, I took a few short steps out of habit and stretched my arms above my head, rubbed my eyes and twisted a crick out of my neck. "Dad, I'm home. Listen... something really crazy is going on... I think we shoul—_mmf!_" Someone grabbed me from behind and clamped a large hand over my mouth before I could get out the rest of my lines. I began to struggle, and both of my hands flew up instinctively to try to pull their arm away. The coat sleeve looked a lot like Douglas's.

_"Get it!"_ someone barked, and then I felt his other hand start groping at my lower right vest pocket.

I kicked and thrashed as hard as I could, but he was actually pretty strong. He lifted me up and I couldn't get loose. Before I could do anything else, I heard the phone clatter to the floor and the screen shatter into pieces as he stomped on it. It was only then, he let go of me.

I spun around to face him and give him some serious hell. "Why did you..." I managed to say, but then I started to feel weird...

...and then everything started to hurt.

I collapsed down to the floor clutching onto the sides of my head. _Oh, God! Oh, GOD! _my mind was screaming. My entire body locked up as crippling pain tore straight through my skull and seemed to shoot down into the rest of me. The worst migraine ever times ten, combined with cramps straight from the bowels of hell. My cries soon gave way to uncontrollable screaming, and praying, and cursing.

It only got worse.

__It hurts. __

__It actually hurts.__

__"Heather!?"__

__...__

The room was dark and blurry now, and everything had gone sideways. The horrific pain had faded down to a dull ache, and in some detached way, I wondered how I hadn't died from it.

There were shadows moving overhead.

Then I saw nothing.

...

_"Ugh..."_

I tried to move, but I probably only twitched.

"Are you okay...?"

_No..._

_Eh, maybe._

A gentle, shy voice. It sounded a lot like Henry Townshend.

Naturally, this was impossible. What, being the wrong game and all.

I was curled up in a ball on my right side, arms folded tightly. My eyes started to open up by themselves, but my head was aching and I felt dizzy... and maybe I was just going to puke right there and then. Luckily, I didn't. I was staring into the face of a rather worried-looking Valtiel.

And Henry was next to him.

"What..." I blinked hazily. "What the..."

"...hell?" Henry said, with a look of restrained amusement.

"Uh, right... thanks." I couldn't resist rolling my eyes, even though it hurt to do so.

I pulled myself up on one arm and looked at Valtiel. "What the hell is going on?" He literally could not say, so he pointed the few digits he had over at the dining table, and that's when I noticed that I was still in my own house. A fully-clothed Douglas was sitting in a chair, along with my father's inanimate corpse. They weren't talking, but they weren't looking over, either.

Also, my father wasn't an inanimate corpse.

I gasped and turned back to Valtiel and Henry, trembling. "I'm freaking out!" I told them. "I'm losing it. The game is over. Shut it down now!" Valtiel was holding my hand and patting it sympathetically, but I wasn't feeling any better.

Finally, Douglas got up from his chair and shuffled over to us. "Heather, we got __really __big problems," he said.

I pointed a finger straight at him. _"YOU!"_

He retreated back a step, raising up his hands. "Hold on..."

"No! I'm not HOLDING ON! My father isn't dead!" I pointed accusingly at the character sitting at the table. "He hasn't been murdered!"

"B-but it's not my fault," he stammered. "Claudia never showed up!"

__What.__

I lowered my angry pointy finger in surprise. "But she... wait, she didn't?"

"That's not even the worst of it. The whole game's messed up... and everything's getting a little too real."

My undead dad stood up from the table, but he wasn't facing us. "Heather, I'm not your father," he said.

__Whatthehellisgoingon.__

"Then who the hell are you?" I demanded, fighting to keep my voice steady. "And who was I talking to on the phone earlier?"

"You should know well enough that phone conversation is supposed to be one-sided," he replied, and he sounded like...

Guy Cihi.

He finally turned around, but he still looked like Dead Harry to me; except for his voice and his face. They were different.

"Retextured James...?"

"Just his character model. But the original developers never wanted you to see him like this. That's why they put in the letterboxes," he explained.

"Then you're..."

"I'm James. James Sunderland. I'm channeling through the model of Dead Harry." He then peeled off his retextures to reveal the iconic patched green jacket, and his hair melted back into the proper shape and color.

_"YOU CAN DO THAT!?"_ I screamed. Valtiel started to fan my face.

"_Listen_, Heather," said Douglas. "Harry, Alien Harry, and Dead Harry aren't the same person. They're separate characters given the illusion of being the same. Harry's still alive back in Silent Hill. He's only dead in this game."

"What?" I couldn't possibly take another bombshell, but everyone kept dropping them. "Wait... okay, I'm starting to understand this... I think. It's just _weird._ Who was I talking to at the start of the game?"

"Vincent tricked you... and he's been trying to trick all of us. This has all gotten way outta hand... We need some help. So I called a meeting of protagonists to discuss it... The Fantastic Four."

"We're still waiting for Harry to get here," Henry said softly.

I blinked. "Harry from Silent Hill? But... he's still my dad, isn't he?"

"That's between you and him," Douglas replied. "But... there's a problem..."

"What?"

"Heather..." said James uncomfortably, "you're in trouble... it's kind of hard to explain..."

_Huh?_

I sat up all the way and looked right at him. "Oh yeah? What kind of trouble?"

Douglas, Henry, and Valtiel all looked uncomfortable now. I raised an eyebrow at them. "Well?"

James turned away to the side. "You... might be excommunicated from the original four protagonists. You'll be bumped down to be with the others... and we won't associate with you anymore." He lifted his gaze and looked over at me again. "We're leaving it up to Harry to decide."

"What, WHY," I cried, and a wave of panic spread through me. I started trembling again.

Douglas sighed heavily. "Heather... we know you've been making friends with monsters. Vincent told me everything."

"No! That isn't...! But what about Valtiel! Huh? I've always been buddies with him, and no one ever said anything."

James shook his head. "He's special. He's a helpful monster like Lisa, Maria, or Pyramm..." He trailed off momentarily. "Red Pyramid Thing... So it's okay to be around him... But you can't go creating some army of monsters to help you. It's against the rules..."

"What about Henry's monster?"

"I guess mine's Joseph..." Henry mumbled.

I staggered up to a shaky stand and clenched my fists at my sides. "I am Heather Mason! I am the protagonist of Silent Hill 3 by Team Silent! It's been set in stone and nothing will _ever_ change that. I don't care what you idiots have to say about it!"

"Harry has the final say," said Douglas calmly. "He's the incorruptible protagonist."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

James nodded. "Harry's the 'good guy' of the series, Heather. Pure of heart, above all of us. Vincent can't touch him."

"Huh... well, I can see how you might be a weirdo, James. But surely Henry and I aren't that bad."

He smirked at me. "You forget about that Possessed ending already? It's true, Harry _and _Henry are the only good souls between us four, but I'm not just talking about our story lines. You used the technology... and so did Henry."

Henry looked a little embarrassed. "The hole wasn't working right... " he said slowly. "There was a smartphone on the floor by the door, so I looked up a walkthrough... I saw all these people getting into fights on this weird message board... I couldn't stop reading..." He cut it short there and brought a hand up to his forehead.

I looked back at James. "What happened to your phone?"

"Vincent hasn't crossed into 2 yet, but I know we aren't safe over there. That's why I'm here."

Douglas was looking at me carefully. "These phones are dangerous... They screw with your head. I had a hell of a time getting rid of mine. Kept picking it back up until I dropped it on the ground and cracked it... Then I had to pry Henry's phone right outta his hands... You even said it yourself that we should throw 'em away... but you didn't."

I frowned. "I guess... but Vincent said my dad was playing mobile games with him."

"Vincent is a damn_ liar_," said James. "He'd say anything to trick you. The only good thing is he still thinks Harry's a dead. And he doesn't know about me, either... for now, anyway."

"And Claudia?"

"She's... " said Douglas, "broken, I guess. That's the best way I can describe it. She stopped caring about the story."

"She doesn't want Paradise anymore?"

"Nope, apparently she likes her new 'stuff' better. Vincent's been giving her anything she wants."

"But they hate each other!"

Suddenly, the knob on the front door rattled, followed by a single knock. Everyone looked at each other, excluding me because I was still pretty pissed off.

Also, I was nervous.

__Dad.__

"Who wants to get it," asked Douglas cautiously. "James, you're the one who called him."

"I can't believe he actually came... He was really reluctant," James replied, shaking his head.

He walked up to the front door and unlocked it, and then raised his voice to a commanding tone. _"The lock isn't broken, you can open this door." _He stepped backwards, keeping an eye on the door as he moved over to join us again.

The doorknob twisted, and the door swung itself open with a dramatic creak.

In loaded a man.

And that man was Harry Mason.

...

And wow, he looked _great_ for a PlayStation character. He must have been using his FMV self.

"Dad..." I tried to say, but my voice had fallen to a thin whisper. I watched as he stood there and gazed around the room, studying the layout before taking a good look at anyone.

James cleared his throat nervously. "Hello, Harry. How are you?" Then he chuckled rather uncharacteristically and added, "And before you say it, no we haven't seen a little girl anywhere."

Douglas elbowed him right in the ribs. "You want anybody making pillow jokes? Show some respect."

Henry walked up and held out his hand politely. "I'm Henry. It's good to finally meet you..." Harry shook his hand, and Henry stepped back out of the way.

I couldn't take it anymore and marched up. "Are you my father?" I demanded.

He turned his head to look at me, and finally he spoke. "No," he said plainly. "My daughter is back in our game with her own character model. Sorry."

I bit my lower lip hard, crushed. But I knew I had to put up a front.

"Okay, then you're... you're just _Harry_ to me, _jerk_," I said.

"Well, that's what everyone calls me," he replied, with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"But I'm the baby at the end of your game, you know."

He glanced around once more. "I feel weird being here. Do you mind if we get on with this?"

"Right down to business," Douglas said, shooting me a side eye. He pulled out two extra chairs that I had never seen in my house before and shoved them up to the table.

"Let's start then," said James.

Everyone took a seat except for me and Valtiel. I plopped down on the floor next to him.

"I'll go first, because I think I've gathered the most information," said Douglas, pulling out a worn notebook from the inside pocket of his coat.

"That's fair. What have you got?" asked Harry the jerk.

"Alright, well... it's not so much what we've got, a lot of it is what we don't," Douglas said, flipping through a few pages. "The first big thing is the god's missing from our game... Also, some of the antagonists have changed. Vincent's still acting the same... almost. Maybe a little too cocky. I could tell he was lying through his teeth when I tried to talk to him. That's fine. Normal, for him... It's just... it looks like he's figured out a way to take some control over the game now. It's the weirdest thing."

"How has he done this?"

"We're still not sure," James said. "Douglas couldn't get a whole lot out of him. It's like he has some kind of link to the outside. He's been introducing new technology and different items into the game. And we think he can... change people."

Harry leaned in a little closer. "Who's been affected?"

"Claudia, for one," said Douglas. "She was supposed to be our other antagonist. Religious maniac, Dahlia's protégé... But... she's lost all her zeal. Ya know, this sounds crazy... but she even told me she doesn't care about the salvation of mankind anymore. It just... isn't like her." He paused, letting the words sink in. Then he slowly shook his head. "Actually, I stopped running into her a while ago, but the last time I saw her, she looked completely different."

"And the phones..." said Henry.

"Right. Vincent's been passing out these smartphones to everybody he runs in to. They're extremely hard to get rid of once they've been put into your inventory."

"What's a 'smart phone'?" asked Harry, looking a little perplexed.

"Uhh, sorry," said James briskly. "We forgot how old Silent Hill's gotten. They're these pocket-sized electronic devices. A telephone and computer built into one that you can take anywhere you want. But here, it seems like they're serving some darker purpose. Now I know mind control sounds ridiculous, but... we know they do _something_ to your head."

Harry went quiet for a moment, and then he asked, "Where is the god? Isn't it supposed to be inside of Heather?"

"Yeah, and it still is," said Douglas. "But you see, the trigger's been broken. Claudia never said her lines, and Heather hasn't been able to manifest the god for us... We don't even have a Nightmare World."

I turned to Valtiel, feeling ashamed. He patted my arm.

"So you're missing your Nightmare World, one of your antagonists has gained too much power, and the other has stopped caring. Am I straight on that?" asked Harry.

"Yep," said Douglas.

"I see, uh... Valtiel... over there... But what about the lesser monsters? And the bosses? Are they still in the game?"

Douglas, James, and Henry raised their heads and looked at me worriedly.

"Bosses are usually Nightmare World only," said Douglas. "But the monsters..."

"What?" asked Harry, appearing concerned for the first time.

James leaned in closer. "Well, that's the uh... 'problem' we talked about earlier," he said. "And I didn't want to get in to it then, but..." He stopped for a moment, then slammed his fist down on the table suddenly, rattling the teapot on top. "_Dammit!_ Look, there're plenty of monsters running around, but she's been... she's been 'making friends' with them... Does that make _any_ sense at all?" He sighed and slumped down in his chair. "I didn't want to believe it at first... but it's the truth."

The room went deadly quiet. My cheeks started to grow hot, and Valtiel put one freakish arm around me.

"Is it?" asked Harry, turning his head to study me carefully, and for a second or two, I thought maybe he could be my dad after all.

"Now, look," Douglas broke in, coming to my defense, "maybe it was just that weird phone she was carrying around... Could've been doing strange things to her..."

Harry sighed. "A protagonist can't 'make friends' with lesser monsters. We shouldn't even be getting too close to our helpful ones." He shot a stern look at Valtiel, who promptly let go of me.

"But if it's only for one game..." Henry said softly.

Harry shook his head and leaned heavily on the table, gazing downward. "It's a very serious thing, you know. Very serious..."

I stood up.

"You know what? I don't need any of you guys _at all_. Who the hell do you think you are barging in here and telling me what to do? This is_ my_ Silent Hill game. And I might be just a teenager, and... and... Okay, fine. I don't know what the hell I'm doing sometimes... but I can finish my own game without your help, that's for sure."

"How are you gonna defeat the final boss if there isn't anything to fight?" asked Douglas. "And how are you gonna get to Silent Hill without me?"

"Screw you, I'll walk!"

He chuckled. "It's too far to walk."

I sighed and sat back down on the floor reluctantly, then shoved Valtiel's arm. "Get away. You're the reason I started to trust monsters."

Valtiel sagged his shoulders and looked like he might cry, if he had any sort of face to. I felt a small pang of guilt, and wrapped my arm around him.

"Fine, sorry. Sheesh."

"It's fine to trust your helpful monsters," said Harry. "For a little while, at least... They'll always guide you to the truth... Or in your case, drag you back to your save point because you're carrying a god."

"I voted stay," said James. "That's all I'm going to say about it... It's still up to you."

Henry said nothing, but he nodded.

The room became quiet and tense once again, and without the soundtrack, all I heard was the steady ticking of the clock up on the wall.

"I've made my decision," Harry said at last. "Heather stays with us. And..." He folded his arms and rested back against the chair with a heavy sigh. "I can't believe I'm saying this... but I'm going to go with my first instinct. She can keep her current monsters... but no more after that. And _only_ until the playthrough is completed."

I kept my gaze planted on the floor while I let out a tiny sigh of relief, but I still wondered who the hell he thought he was to call the shots like that.

He continued, "We need to look at the bigger picture now. Vincent is out of control, and we need to figure out how he did it."

The four men sat in silence around the table, deep in thought.

"Could be a fanfic..." said Henry, after a quiet minute.

James shifted uneasily in his seat. "Could be... but... I would have expected more awkward, uh... 'encounters' with Pyr... Red Pyramid Thing, to be honest."

Henry grimaced. "True... and we'd probably all be making out over there on the floor..."

I shuddered involuntarily.

"Also, people like to make up their own one-dimensional characters and try to force them into the story," James added. "And I haven't seen anyone new around..."

"Let's go back to the basics," said Harry quickly, looking uncomfortable. "What are we?"

"We're video game characters," Douglas replied tiredly.

"Right, this is a game world... an invented story... But, real enough to the fans... and sometimes people don't want it to end, you know?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. "This game looks way too good to be fan-made."

"I have an_ idea_ of what it could be... But I'm not sure enough... I'll just keep it to myself for now."

"Oh,_ come on_," James groaned. "We need all the information we can get. And you're the best at finding out what it is... You write crime novels and mysteries for God's sake."

Harry shook his head solemnly. "No, because a few things aren't adding up. This game is falling apart fast, and I'm not just talking about Vincent. There's an ulterior motive here... and I haven't gotten to the bottom of it just yet. But... if it's what I'm _thinking_... this game might not have the ending we're hoping for."

The three other men glanced at one another warily. I sighed and rested my head on Valtiel's shoulder.

__Double Head.__

"Oh no!" I cried, jumping up. "Listen guys, don't freak out on me. I need to go get something."

Before they could react, I made a mad dash out the front door and into the hallway, and jogged straight down to the backdoor.

"_Come, doggy thing!_"

The Double Head was surprisingly still waiting there, though it must have been a few hours. I grabbed it by the scruff of its bandages, and we ran back to apartment 102.

"Put away any weapons you have," I said, before we entered.


	6. Chapter 6: The Gray Textured Road

****Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever****

****Chapter 6: The Gray Textured Road****

"This," I said, before looking at anyone, "is my Double Head. Yes, __mine___._"

I glanced up to see the faces of three very weirded-out protagonists, and that of a disturbed-looking Douglas. Valtiel seemed to be okay with it, from what I could read on his expressionless mug.

No one said anything.

I patted the panting monster on its left split head, and we wandered over into the kitchen area. I examined the fridge first. _The refrigerator is empty. _Somehow, I could tell without opening it. I moved back from it and opened up one of the white cabinets to have a peek inside. The texture wrapping on the boxes of food looked repetitive, and the detailing wasn't all that impressive up close. I saw a box of "Butter Cake"—whatever the hell that was—and opted instead for the one labeled "Cookie".

The hush continued as we walked past them. I dragged the unbloodied yellow armchair around to face the table and plunked down into it. I started to open the box up, and the Double Head circled the chair a few times while it wagged its bandaged tail stump, maybe hoping I'd be willing to share.

"Heather..." said James, sounding _extremely_ perturbed.

"Yeah, what," I said, still struggling to open the sealed plastic bag without spilling the contents all over.

"How can you sit there and eat __cookies__?" he demanded, with a touch of desperation.

I looked up at him just as I'd crammed one into my mouth. "Hm?"

"I mean..." He blinked slowly in confusion, then looked back over at me. "Won't you get fat?"

I laughed. "What? It's just a couple of cookies." I tossed one into the air and the Double Head caught it in one of its mouths.

It was Henry's turn. "Jasper drinks the chocolate milk... and he looks pretty thin... Uh, but... he hasn't yet since I still have it on me..."

Harry just scowled. "A protagonist must never eat food. We only consume health drinks, and we only use ampoules and first aid kits."

"Fine, fine," I said. "I was just hungry after all that running around. Thirsty, too... Hey, can I have your chocolate milk, Henry?"

Henry blinked and tilted his head, bewildered. "But it's for Jasper..."

Harry sighed deeply and rested his chin in his hand. "This is not good... We need to end this game as soon as we can."

Douglas shrugged at him. "To beat the game, the god has to die."

"What if I just use the locket?" I asked. "Then I can ralph it up, and someone can step on it."

"I don't think it'll be that easy," said James. "It would be too anticlimactic... The game would probably just continue from the last save. I think we're going to have to face Vincent somehow."

"But I dunno where he is," I sighed. "He's _supposed_ to meet Douglas out front after the scene in here, but he's been doing his own thing, so..."

"I know where he is," said Douglas. "He's probably still hanging out over in the final level behind Lakeside Amusement Park, but..."

"But what?" asked Harry, who seemed to be interested by the name.

"You're not gonna believe this... It's not Lakeside Amusement Park anymore... It's Lakeside Amusement Park &amp; Casino."

I spat out the first swig of the chocolate milk Henry had graciously handed to me. _"WHAT!?"_

Valtiel reached out to hold my hand again, but I felt my insides cramping up worse than ever before, and I _knew_ I was gonna lose my cookies this time around.

"Guys, I'm gonna hurl," I choked, before pressing a hand firmly over my mouth.

"See, that's what you get for eating food," quipped James.

I stumbled towards the door to my bedroom, trying to make a run for the bathroom inside. I didn't make it in time and fell forward just after the loading screen, and then wound up upchucking all over the floor. I straightened back up and winced, holding my stomach and breathing hard, then slowly opened my eyes and looked down. It was all pretty gross and low-res, but there wasn't a little god in there anywhere. The worst of the nausea wave passed. Not good, but better. I got up with a groan and staggered into the bathroom to rinse out my mouth. The faucet on the sink worked, which was downright astounding, and blood wasn't even coming up from the drain (although I had some mixed feelings about that).

I passed my dresser on the way back, and held onto it unsteadily while rummaging around in the top drawer for the stun gun. I stuffed it down into my pocket and staggered over to the bedroom door.

I loaded out into the living room still heaving a little. Valtiel and the Double Head were waiting right outside, and Valtiel started to push past me. I grabbed his arm and shook my head disappointedly, but he seemed to relax.

"I'm okay now, I think..." I mumbled, and fell back down into the chair cushion.

"I'm afraid this is only going to get worse," said Harry, shaking his head. "Vincent has to be stopped... and we need to decide who's going to confront him."

"Me, of course," I sighed. "I'm the main character... If he's the bad guy, I'll just go kill him."

The room went quiet again.

"Kill him...?" asked Douglas finally. "You're gonna _kill_ Vincent?"

"Sure, why not? It's kind of something I've always wanted to do. He's a rat bastard... Besides, Claudia pokes him full of holes near the end of the game anyway."

"But you're not meant to kill anyone, except Monster Leonard, and since he doesn't exist outside of the Nightmare Hospital... I mean c'mon, Heather. You can't just go bumping off important characters."

"What about all those times I went bad and stabbed you?"

"It's just an ending, it doesn't count," he argued. "And you never even get to see it happen."

"I killed Mary outside of the game, but I did have to fight Eddie," pointed out James. "Only because he started it, though... and Harry killed Puppet Cybil... and Henry fought Ghost Walter."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. You see, those are perfect examples. You can't just knife someone in the back because they deserve it... They either have to attack you first, or turn into a monster. It's tradition."

Henry leaned forward. "But in Downpou—"

"Screw 'tradition'!" I interrupted. "If you hadn't noticed, _nothing_ is normal around here. Hell, you guys can even tag along if you want. As long as_ I'm_ the one who takes care of Vincent." I cycled through my inventory slots for the first time in a while. I had some handgun ammo, a tiny bit of shotgun ammo, the stun gun and beam saber, my switchblade knife and Fairy pipes, and of course, the katana. "What've you all got?" I asked.

I watched all of them zone out into their menu screens, except for Harry.

"My broken wine bottle and um... steel pipe... and one nutrition drink," said Henry, looking a bit dazed.

"I've got this 'Simple Works' notebook on me for some reason, but I don't have any weapons or items," said James. "But by God do I miss my chainsaw... really love that thing."

I looked over at Douglas. "What about you?"

He frowned thoughtfully. "Well, I have my gun... but I don't know if it actually shoots."

__I knew it. __I hid a smile.

Harry looked too inept to me, so I didn't bother asking.

"How do we get there again?" asked James.

"I drive," said Douglas.

"Are we really all going? I guess we should. It just feels... wrong. But the numbers might give us an advantage..."

"Either we all go to Silent Hill, or Heather goes alone," said Harry. "If we're going to break such a rule, we should go all or nothing. That's how I feel about it, and even then... I still think I should stay away."

"Why?" I asked, but he ignored the question.

"I'll help you confront Vincent, but I'll have no part in killing him," he replied, and then pulled back from the table and stood up. "I'll find my own way there." I watched him turn and walk to the front door, thinking it strange he just disappeared while the camera angle changed position momentarily.

"What's with him," I huffed.

James looked at me. "Heather, you've got to understand something about Harry... He's kind of an outcast. Not in a bad way... He's just different from us."

"Why, 'cause he's only on the PlayStation?"

Douglas nodded slowly. "Yeah... well, that, and the only way they stuck his character into the sequel was by killing him off... He probably feels bad about it."

James folded his arms and sat back in his chair. "Most of the fans would say 2 and 3 are the best in the series, so you can see why Harry might feel alienated from us next gen characters. A lot of people haven't even played Silent Hill... it's not easy to get unless you emulate it."

Everyone turned their head to look at Henry, including the monsters.

He rubbed the back of his head and pressed back in his chair. "Uh, my game takes a lot of heat for being __different__... but it's still a Team Silent game..."

"Well _I _like your game, Henry," I declared. "No matter _how_ weird it is."

He gave me a shy half-smile, and then looked down at his hands.

I pulled myself up from the armchair. "I'm going to Silent Hill, and I'm gonna bust some heads. At least Vincent's... He's got some serious explaining to do, and no matter what, he's finished."

I leaned over to fist bump Valtiel. "If I die there, you know what to do." He nodded and crawled off out of sight. I turned back to everyone else. "I don't know what kind of hell isn't waiting for me there, since the Nightmare World is gone... but I hope we can figure this out make things right again."

The two leftover protagonists got up from their seats, and Douglas went for the door. "I'll bring the car around back," he said. "Come by when you've finished saving your game."

James, Henry, the monster and I trotted down the hallway to the painted Halo of the Sun. I placed both hands to the side of it and peered in for the flash. Once again, my saved data must have gotten corrupted, because it was mysteriously missing.

"Dammit."

"What's the matter?" asked James. "Don't you know how to save your game?"

"Oh, I know how to save alright. But the last time my data didn't take or something... and it's getting harder to concentrate."

"Maybe it's because of Vincent..." said Henry, looking wary.

I heaved a sigh. "Give me a sec. I can do this."

"Just relax and let the weird feeling grope around inside your skull," said James.

"Yeah, yeah..." I stared for a while, and my reflection began to look blurry.

__Come on, just work already.__

The door to the left of us opened with a light squeak. Douglas popped his head in. "What's taking so long?" he asked. "We should get moving."

"Her save point's acting weird," said James. "It wiped out her old save and won't imprint a new one."

"Really? Huh, that's interesting..." he said, in a slow, careful tone. Then he pulled out his gun. "Maybe if I just kill her we can end this right now."

Henry, James, and the Double Head nearly knocked me off of my feet as they jumped up to block me from view.

"Now hold the hell on!" shouted James. "You can't do that!"

Douglas shook his head and barely contained a laugh. "I was just joking... my gun doesn't even work." To prove the point, he dry fired it up at the ceiling a few times. It didn't even click.

I rolled my eyes and turned around. "I always figured that was the case. Ya know Douglas, aside from the lift to Silent Hill, you're a pretty useless character."

"I know, it's that whole 'Hanged Man' theme they got going," he replied, tucking his toy gun away. "Gimme a break, I'm trying to be as helpful as I can."

Henry and James calmed down, and the Double Head circled around and back to my side. The five of us walked outside to the car.

"Uh, this feels important. Symbolic, really..." said James slowly. "Who sits in which seat?"

Douglas hopped into the driver's side. "Just pick, but Heather's normally shotgun."

I climbed into the passenger side using an animation I didn't know I had. "Just get in back you two, and my monster can sit in between."

James and Henry looked at each other, and then down at the Double Head with disgust. They reluctantly climbed into the back, and sat smushed into the side doors as far away from it as they could.

"I've never ridden in a car before..." said Henry nervously.

"I always drive mine off screen when I gun it into the lake," said James. "So this is a first for me as well."

Dim street lights and signs passed by our windows, and Douglas made the turn onto the dark, empty road without any hint of a time advancing loading screen. My mind wandered to my tanking stars again.

We hadn't gotten too far, when suddenly it started raining.

"Heather, you're quiet," said Douglas, as he reached over to switch on the wiper blades. "Are you sleeping?"

"I'm awake, even though I don't wanna be," I replied.

"Are you cold?"

"Yeah, a little. But mostly I just have this pounding headache... and I still feel kind of sick."

"Carsick?"

"I warned you to stop eating those cookies," James piped up from the back.

"Try looking at the horizon..." Henry suggested.

"What horizon," I groaned. "All I see are trees and raindrop textures."

"These are really cool... I think this game looks a lot better than mine..."

"It's like the more screwed up my game gets, the worse I feel. Ever since my phone got taken away..." I covered my eyes with one hand and leaned against the door panel.

"Well sorry, but that thing wasn't doing you any favors," said Douglas. "You wanna know something? I think Vincent was using it to keep tabs on you. It's a _good_ thing that it's gone."

"I don't know if I can get through the rest of the game feeling like this," I admitted.

The Double Head whined softly.

"Just do your best, and we'll step in if you need help," said James, leaning forward and patting my shoulder confidently.

"James..."

"Yes?"

"My dad's really just your retextured dead character model?"

"Uh-huh."

"That's kinda strange... don't you think?"

Douglas glanced over in my direction. "You know I'm supposed to be your replacement father figure... it's so people don't feel as sorry for you."

I turned to gaze at my reflection in the side view mirror and frowned, not sure of what to say to either of them.

"It's best not to think too hard about these types of things..." James said after a short while. "I don't want to actually feel _bad_ for what I did to my wife... I might just go crazy."

"But you are crazy..." said Henry gently. "And your father isn't wrapped too tight himself..."

"Is that right? I've never met him."

I sighed and kept my eyes closed for the rest of the road trip.

My head was killing me.


	7. Chapter 7: Not Together in the Town

****Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever****

****Chapter 7: Not Together in the Town****

Silent Hill was still foggy and forsaken.

All four of us (and the monster) breathed a collective sigh of relief as soon as the entry loading screen had cleared. Douglas rolled the car up to the front of Jacks Inn and shut off the engine. We climbed out and took a minute to stretch our legs while having a look around. Strangely enough, there was a vehicle already parked inside, lined up perfectly within a space.

A red and white Jeep Wrangler YJ, in pristine FMV condition.

"Whoa..." muttered James, ambling over to it.

"Harry's...?" Henry started to ask, but he soon trailed off. It obviously had to be.

"I don't believe it! Wow, Harry Mason's Jeep! I always thought it was too banged up to drive!" exclaimed James, sounding just a little too star-struck.

Douglas walked up and stood there with me and the Double Head. We all looked at each other.

"C'mon, James..." Douglas said, stepping forward. "He's probably in 106. It's the only door that opens."

James and Henry were now circling the Jeep like a pair of hungry sharks, stopping occasionally to peer inside. "I kinda wanna... sit in it..." said Henry, as he reached for the passenger side door handle.

"Wait—I don't think we should," James said, seemingly recovered from his initial fangasm. He turned to me and Douglas. "This really shouldn't be here, should it?"

I shrugged, but Douglas spoke up. "I don't think so..." he said. "I hope Harry's alright... you'd think_ he'd_ be above the game's influence..."

"Well, he _should_ be. But maybe the longer he stays here..."

I marched up and pried open the Jeep's passenger door, bumping Henry out of the way. I climbed up into the seat. "Check it out guys, I'm Cheryl!" I reached for the driver's side and almost pushed down on the horn, but I stopped myself just in time. I imagined Harry sticking his head out of the door, and yelling at me to get out.

James crossed his arms and turned back towards the motel. "Knock it off, Heather. Let's go see what's going on inside."

I pouted a tiny bit and reluctantly hopped back down, resisting an urge to disappear into the thick swirls of fog just outside of the immediate area.

We filed into room 106 one at a time. Harry was inside, perched on the edge of a chair by the desk between the two made up beds. He had some sort of flimsy book in his hands, and he was thumbing through it.

"What'cha got there, Harry?" asked Douglas, walking over.

"Just the official strategy guide," he replied. "I wasn't completely sure how to find this place... it doesn't really look like __my __Silent Hill." He closed the book and began to tuck it out of sight into the side of his leather jacket.

"Where'd you find that?" asked James warily. He'd been hanging noticeably back, regarding the book like it was some kind of a forbidden artifact. "It's a Real World item, isn't it?"

"I just picked it up as a memo somewhere," Harry answered smoothly. "It doesn't matter."

He continued, "At any rate, it won't be of much help now... From here on most of the game takes place in the Nightmare World, so things will undoubtedly be... different."

"Screwed up, yeah," I said, "and I know it's my fault, okay?"

"It's Claudia's fault, Heather," he replied unexpectedly. "She never said the lines correctly... Really, it's Vincent's fault. You can't go blaming this all on yourself."

The others nodded as they turned their gazes back in my direction, and I started to feel a little more at ease. I guess I hadn't expected Harry to be so reasonable. I decided that I might be able to cut him some slack after all.

"I have the weirdest feeling right now..." said James.

"Me too..." I said, and then realized they were probably all feeling the same. "We should split up!"

Douglas scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm feeling it too," he said. "We should all part ways and search the area."

"Why?" asked Henry. "We already know where Vincent is..."

"Leonard's phone voice might still be in that room inside of Normal Brookhaven... I guess I'll go check and see if it is."

"But that's the opposite of what we should be doing," I argued. "I go to the Hospital, and you end up in Lakeside Amusement Park!"

"...&amp; Casino," he finished.

A sharp twinge of nausea hit me again, and I had to take a seat on the edge of the bed.

"If I can get Leonard to call Claudia up and abuse her over the phone, she might start wanting Paradise again. I've been thinking about this for a while... and it might just work."

"That's a good start," said Harry. "I guess I'll come with you... It's going to be dark in there and you'll need a flashlight." He got up out of his chair and looked at us. "The rest of you clear through the Park and wait for us before the Church level."

I opened my mouth to say something, and then instantly shut it again. I was about to raise an argument about Douglas's ineptitude, but suddenly realized that was the reason Harry would be joining him. Harry was just being diplomatic about it.

"I'll head over there from the Lakeview Hotel," said James. "But... I feel like I can't cross Nathan the normal way... I'm going to go see if the boat's there."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're gonna row a boat across that huge lake?"

"Yeah, so?" he answered indignantly. "I usually make good time... even on Hard difficulty."

"This isn't Silent Hill 2, James," I sighed. "Whatever. I'm sure you'll get there somehow."

Douglas and Harry left, and James followed a moment or so later. I watched them disappear into their loading screens.

I looked down at the Double Head.

Then I looked at Henry, and he stared awkwardly back.

"This feels like some kinda fanservice," I muttered.

He nodded slowly.

"Look, Henry... I know a lot of the_ fangirls_ think you're a super hottie, but I'm uh... not... like... them... We're main characters in the Silent Hill series, we're..." I stopped it there because I found that I was starting to ramble, and also because my cheeks were beginning to grow a tad warmer than usual.

"Just... go to the Amusement Park, okay?" I pointed to the door.

"Okay..." he mumbled, making his way over to it.

"I mean I like you and all! But I'm not some escort mission!" I exclaimed, a second before he loaded outside.

I flopped back on the bed and looked at the Double Head. "Whew, got rid of 'em all."

The Double Head arfed a happy arf.

"I guess we'll find a way to that, uh... Park. I hope I don't have a breakdown when I see it looking so weird." The monster hopped up on the bed beside me with with a short, supportive howl. I reached up to pat its sticky bandaged side, and then I stared up at the slowly turning ceiling fan. The weather outside had been cool, but the room was warm and the lull of the fan was relaxing.

"I'm really tired... but we should get going..."

The bright lamp on the desk was hurting my eyes, and making my headache worse. I reached up switched it off, then rested my arm down over my head, if only for a minute. But then I did something no self-respecting protagonist would ever do in the middle of a game.

I fell asleep. On my own.

I dreamed...

About the missing Nightmare World... and other things.

...

_"I fear Her... and I adore Her._

_But I haven't lost my mind like you."_

Barely conscious, I groaned and felt my head try to turn away to the side.

_Anything_ but him.

...

_"...__Strength must overcome petty desire. Childish sleep talk..."_

_What are you talking about?_

_..._

I lifted my forearm up from over my eyes and sat up slowly. It was too dark to see anything. I flipped on my flashlight, and saw the Double Head cuddled up next to me.

"Oh. Crap." I said, rubbing my head. I was groggy as hell. The creature lifted its split heads and squinted in the sudden light. I jumped up and off of the bed in a panicked hurry. _"Come!"_ I yelled, already making a break for the door.

__Not good. Not good.__

We loaded out into the motel's parking lot. The Jeep and Douglas's clunky old Chrysler LeBaron were still parked there, and I should've known that Harry would have wanted to hoof it to Brookhaven the old-fashioned way. The Double Head and I jogged out into the street side by side and I looked down at it. "Why didn't you wake me up," I whined. It panted and gave a soft howl of embarrassment as we rounded the next corner to get onto Munson Street. From there we began heading north, up in the direction of Rosewater Park.

The abandoned storefronts and streets were dark now, and some of the fog had lifted—probably due to graphical limitations—but being out in the open air of Silent Hill seemed to be clearing my head just a little. I started to feel a lot better as we ran along. I still missed the Nightmare World, and still felt fuzzy and weird, but seeing the town so _normal __looking_ was doing wonders for me.

I ran hard until I was winded, and then I stopped and leaned forward to catch my breath, and the chilly air around us reminded me of the smell of snow. I straightened and stretched my arms behind my back, ready to get going again, but paused when we heard a mournful howl from somewhere far off, followed by a howling reply a few seconds later.

_Double Heads._

I smiled to myself, and got a move on.

"I wonder what happened to everyone," I said, as we sped up to the pace of roughly a power walk. "They couldn't have offed Vincent without me... could they?"

My monster looked up at me quizzically, like it wasn't sure what to howl.

_"It's a bit far... but closer than heaven!"_

Vincent's scripted line repeated sarcastically in my head once we had approached Nathan Avenue, and then rounded a left corner to run along it for some stretch of miles. Though it had gotten dark out, I briefly thought that Maria could possibly be waiting at the lookout over in Rosewater, and, as we passed it by, that Laura might be hanging out at Pete's Bowl-O-Rama with Eddie, while he gnawed on his never-ending pizza slice. I had to remind myself that it wasn't the right game.

It was all starting to run together.

I felt pretty bad that we wouldn't get to see the Texxon Gas Station, and Heaven's Night, and worst of all: the Nightmare Hospital. I'd been looking forward to watching Lisa's cutscene movie on the Seal of Metatron on the tunnel wall. I was _super_ bummed that we'd miss out on seeing Memory of Alessa in the storeroom mirror on the third floor, and the boss fight with Monster Leonard. It was then that I realized that I hadn't actually killed anything since the game had started. I wondered how badly my ranking would be affected, and if I might get at least a _couple_ of stars for not having saved at all, since the data had disappeared.

_And why the hell do I still care about all of that?_

Suddenly, I realized that I really didn't. I just missed the Nightmare World so much, and all of the absentee monsters and bosses. I might have even gladly been killed by them, if it meant bringing back my old game. The strangest feelings were coming over me now, and I almost stopped dead in my tracks.

I just wanted it all_ back_.

I glanced up when I noticed movement in my flashlight's beam. My Double Head was running circles around me, urging me to keep going. I hastened back up to a steady jog.

I began to wonder if Douglas and Harry had completed their side mission yet, and convinced Leonard's disembodied phone voice to piss Claudia off enough to change her ways. I wondered if just saying the lines would really fix everything once and for all. _Then_ I wondered if it was already too late to manifest enough of a godboss to fight and beat the game, and if Claudia would still be willing to give birth to it for me. _  
_

_The one who will lead us to Paradise with blood-stained hands._

I wondered a lot of things.

And then I hit a loading screen.

...

Something was off.

I looked around, glancing down either side of the street, and rubbed some of the chill off of my arms. It didn't look like we were on Nathan Avenue anymore, but we hadn't quite made it all the way to Lakeside Amusement Park (&amp; Casino).

We wandered down the darkened road for quite a while, passing by an occasional touristy billboard, a steady line of guardrails, bushes and trees, and here, I thought the scenery had begun to take on more of a Paleville vibe. My flashlight landed on a weathered green sign that clung to a metal pole, canted at a harsh angle and partially obscured by an overgrown patch of weeds. **_W. SA... _**it read, in the only part that was legible.

Eventually, the street ended in a crumbling drop off, so we made a right turn onto an unknown scenic path. The grass off to either side of it was cut and well taken care of, and the hedges had been trimmed back neatly, though as we continued on, it started to look like someone had taken a flamethrower to them.

_Weird..._

We almost bumped right into an old wrought iron gate, built into a gray stone wall and framed by some more burnt hedges and a warped, weedy arbor. The gate wouldn't swing open, and upon closer inspection the latch appeared to be merely decorative. I shoved my Double Head's large bandaged up butt over the side and went to climb over it. We kept on walking, passing a scorched ornate fountain, before making a second right turn. The sound of lapping water could be heard, steadily growing closer. I led the way down a set of blackened stone steps, following the flashlight's beam. A solid stretch of well-textured pier was built there, and the tallest lamppost had been left on, towards the small dock.

__Someone __was sitting beneath it. A fit young guy with tousled brown hair wearing a light long-sleeved shirt and jeans.

_"Henry?"_ I yelled out to him. He looked pretty out of it, and his head remained bowed.

The Double Head and I came bounding up, and I bent down to poke him a few times. "Henry, snap out of it!"

He looked up at me slowly. "...Hi, Heather."

"Where are we? Have you seen anybody else around here?" I crouched beside him and smoothed his hair down. "Are you feeling alright?"

He shook his head and blinked sleepily. "I'm okay..." he said. Then an odd look crept over his face when our eyes met again—like something was troubling him.

"What?" I asked, glancing around us, but the realization quickly dawned. "Oh..."

He'd already begun to cycle through his on screen inventory slots, probably looking for a weapon to equip.

"Henry, relax. I'm not on Walter's hit list or anything. Chill out."

"Oh yeah..." he said, but even so, I could tell he was still a bit worried.

A soft knocking and splashing sound was looping nearby, and we both peeked over the edge. A rowboat with two paddles locked into it was floating next to the dock, rocking gently on the waves.

"James..." we both whispered, and exchanged concerned glances. All three of us turned to look, and I pointed my flashlight beam towards the infamous Lakeview Hotel. The place hadn't changed at all since the end of Silent Hill 2, so it was pretty burned down and crappy looking.

Peering tentatively up the courtyard's back lawn, at the burnt-out shell of a building with its cracked window glass, and the ruined remains of what had once been the south porch, I cupped both hands to the sides of my mouth. "_JAMES?_" Then I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard a loud_ THUMP!_ come up from behind us. My heart was slamming in my chest when I pointed my flashlight in the direction of the sound, but I was relieved when I saw that it was only a hand.

__Oh, thank God...__

The hand clawed up onto the edge of the wooden planks, followed by a soaked dark green sleeve. Henry got up and walked over, then knelt down to help the person up onto the dock.

"Th-thanks..." choked a familiar voice. It was James, but he sounded completely exhausted.

"James... what the hell were you doing?" I asked. He was on his hands and knees now, hacking up some of Toluca's finest lake sludge.

"Did you fall out of the boat?" asked Henry.

He finally looked up at us. "What b-boat? I had to swi... swim." His teeth were chattering, even though his clothes were already starting to look dry.

I stomped up and pointed over the side. "That boat! You mean it wasn't by the launch? I can't believe you took a dip in Toluca Lake. God... what was it like in there?"

He shuddered and heaved one more time. "You don't want to know what's down there."

"Did ya see the _Little Baroness_?" I asked, suddenly fascinated. "Or the sixty-seven people who died of illness they chucked in there? What about the bony fingered—"

"I'd rather not say," he interrupted, looking more than a little afraid.

I decided to drop it, since he seemed so genuinely flipped out, but the curiosity was killing me.


	8. Chapter 8: Silent Hill: Ruination

****Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever****

****Chapter 8: Silent Hill: Ruination****

Silent Hill's famous Lakeside Amusement Park lay before us, just beyond the next loading screen.

I was stalling like crazy.

"It's_ probably_ going to be bad..." argued James. "But at least you still have us. For moral support, ya know?"

My hands were shaking. I quickly jammed them down into my pockets. "You guys don't get it... This place... it's _always _in Nightmare Mode. As soon as I walk in there it changes over..."

Henry stood silently with his arms folded, looking thoughtful.

"I'm gonna have a meltdown..." I muttered. "I can feel it... As soon as I see those bright happy lights..."

The Double Head was sitting next to me. It pawed encouragingly at my right leg.

"Arf!"

I reached down to stroke a patch of its filthy fur and sighed. "I'm going... _but I hate this goddammit_!_ I want Memory of Alessa back_!" I marched forward and shut my eyes tightly when the screen went dark. I loaded in facing backwards with my hands covering my eyes and waited for the others. Soon, I heard them shifting around me.

"W-what..." James stammered. "My _God..._ Who could've..."

"Vincent..." Henry muttered. He sounded about as angry as I'd ever heard him.

I turned around and dropped my hands, and instantly wished I hadn't. The walls were all gone, the space had been opened, and the place was fully lit for the nighttime shift. Several of the rides could be heard running by themselves, and generic carnival music was sounding off from somewhere far away.

The whole place was altogether too clean.

My head was aching mercilessly. I leaned forward and took several deep breaths in and out while I forced my mind to slowly count to ten. When I was finally able to look up again, I saw the sign:

_**Lakeside Amusement Park**_

_**.******..&amp; Casino!****_

__I'm gonna kill him.__

I stomped forward angrily. "This doesn't even look like a Silent Hill game anymore!" I yelled. "_REALLY, Vincent?! Fu_..." My voice withered away before a true f-bomb was dropped, but I came close.

The others looked too afraid to enter fully. "This is messed up," James said quietly.

I was trembling visibly as I reached up and switched off my useless flashlight. "Come on. We're gonna get to the bottom of this right now. I don't care _what_ happens." I grabbed both of their arms and pulled them forward. They were still too stunned to follow.

_"COME ON!"_

We carried on through the area together with a great deal of reluctance. I didn't have a map of the level (never had), but the layout looked _almost_ the same. Plenty of new buildings had been added, and the whole park had gotten huge. Humble little Lakeside had become a sprawling expanse, with paths and roads laden with shops and attractions. It was decided early on that we should stick to the main drag, since wandering through all of them would have taken hours; perhaps a whole day. There were restaurants and bars with bizarre misspelled names, a pachinko parlor and a couple of arcades. The casino games we passed by as quickly as we could, but the signs were still hard to avoid. A blazing red and white neon was flickering up ahead. **_SLOTS_** it promised, and beyond that **_BlackJack!_** Above all, a multistory-sized pink Robbie the Rabbit statue beckoned **_WELCOME_**, but he was missing the bloody stains around his grinning mouth.

I swallowed hard, trying not to barf.

The entire area was far too easy to traverse. There were no more pitfalls into the black abyss, the locked gates were gone and the paths were laid out clear. Our boots met the ground with dull footfalls, instead of the familiar clinks and clanks of grates. There weren't any dead Robbie costumes to stumble over, or creepy blotchy body-shaped things locked in dark metal cages to look at. I sighed heavily and tried not to moan and groan too much while I forced myself to keep pace with the others. It was like torture.

The Mountain Coaster was up and fully running without anyone at the switch, which was _one_ good thing at least—the fact that the place was still abandoned. We stopped for a minute to watch it go by, and I _longed_ to be up on those tracks; to be splattered or not. I had taken it for granted so many times, but that nightmare was a part of me.

With no reason to jump away from the roller coaster and knock myself out, we took a detour off to the left. There was no wall or door built there anymore, but we'd discovered a winding path surrounded by sharp black fencing, phony gravestones, and a few scattered lit-up jack-o-lanterns. The attraction was no longer an obstacle, but I felt like I should take a look anyway. I turned and glanced up at the sign dejectedly.

_**Borley Haunted Mansion**_

I gave the ticket booth and save point a miss and led everyone up to the front entrance. I reached up to grab onto the right door handle and pushed forward, opening it with a slow creak.

_"Welcome to the Borley Haunted Mansion..." _droned the voice. I tuned it out and looked around. "What the hell...?" I muttered, causing the others to gather closely behind me. The Double Head peeked its heads from around my legs and sniffed curiously at the floor just inside.

Eight Insane Cancers were lying there, deflated on the floor of the entry hall, flattened out like grotesque pancakes. At first sight I was a bit nervous, but they were definitely dead. Looking at them now, I started to feel a little sad, seeing them in such a pathetic state. I took a moment to ponder the meaning while I let the others have a look, then pulled the door shut again.

"Did someone stash them in there?" I asked.

"Looks like it," said James. "Hidden out of the way, I'd guess."

The Double Head whined and looked around nervously, and Henry stood facing the other direction, holding onto his steel pipe with both hands.

"I don't think we need to be afraid of monsters anymore guys," I said. "I'm thinking this is more of Vincent's work."

Henry lowered his weapon back into one hand, but he still appeared anxious. "It's Vincent I'm worried about..."

"Vincent knows better than to attack me. He's a wuss... and besides, he hates getting all 'hot and sweaty'. His words, not mine."

_So how did he kill these monsters...?_

I was afraid of what the answer might be, and quickly pushed the thought out of my mind.

We made our way back to the Park's main route, and continued up and along the brightly lit path, towards the sound of the humming engines. Vincent had somehow fixed the missing Pirates in Storm ride, but it looked like a cheap Disney knockoff. We crossed the bridge above it and loaded into the next area. To our left was The Star Travel Coaster, running for the first time ever. A few new rides with weird names were off to our right and up ahead, but moving beyond them we soon recognized the Tea Cup(s) and the Swing Rocket. Each ride had a different set of music, and hearing them all at once was super annoying. I kept both hands firmly over my ears as we walked closer. My head was pounding, and the accompanying dizziness made it damn near impossible to walk in a straight line.

The Magic Ice Cream House sat forlornly nearby, looking absolutely ordinary without its usual hellish surroundings. When we moved over to it, I noticed that the old memo was still lying on the counter there. Harry's save point note from Silent Hill.

__Dad...__

I sighed inwardly, remembering what Harry had told me. The scribbled note served as only a painful reminder. I put the notepad back down again without reading it, and tried not to look too depressed in front of everyone.

The Happy Carousel ground itself to a halt, awaiting a stream of riders that would never come. I almost broke down the moment I laid eyes on it. The colorfully painted horses were frozen in place, and not freakishly mutated at all. There was no twitching, or neighing, or the spewing forth of their toxic equine breath. With their sky blue and gold saddles and red bridles, they looked much the same as they had back in the first game. I hung my head and tried not to tear up.

__I'm sorry Memory of Alessa...__

It felt like I'd let her down.

We climbed up onto the empty platform and I slid down into a sit on the spot where her bloody message would have been scrawled. I could still remember how it went:

_It would be better for 'myself'_  
_to die.__ After all, it's nothing to_  
_be afraid of._

__That child... that demon..._  
_When I think of the endless pain_  
_it will bring when it is birthed..._  
_I decided that, instead of the _  
_suffering and cruelty I endured_  
_in that sick room...__

_...That I would like to bestow a_  
_more gentle and 'peaceful' death_  
_on 'myself'._

_Why do I resist? I never thought of 'myself'_  
_as such a fool._

I buried my face down into my arms for a sulk. The Double Head plopped down next to me on lookout. James and Henry roamed around the platform, examining the carousel horses.

"Where's that go?" asked James, pointing ahead to the wooden door buried deep in the wall. "Is that the door to the next level?"

I nodded.

"The Church?"

I nodded again.

Henry stepped over to us with the steel pipe still gripped in his right hand. "Aren't they supposed to meet us here...?"

I nodded a third time, still too bummed out to say anything. After a few quiet minutes, I dragged myself back up to a standing position. "That's the final level..." I said. "And seeing _it_ screwed up... I don't know..." I trudged over to the door, holding onto the back of my monster. James and Henry followed cautiously.

My right hand grasped the doorknob and wrenched it open. We loaded in. The long concrete passageway was up ahead, and so far it looked the same way it should have. The tunnel was a bit dark as we entered, but the wall sconces were lit, so I didn't bother with switching my flashlight back on. My headache eased up ever so slightly while we walked through single file, ignoring the religious graffiti painted on the walls. We eventually reached the short staircase, and climbed up to the door at the end.

More graffiti on the door, this time unavoidable:

__This door is the gate which leads to_  
_the road to Paradise._  
_

__Embrace the bosom of the _  
_Holy Mother._  
_

__Admit your sins and be forgiven._  
_Eternal tranquility can be yours.__

I grumbled a little while I turned the doorknob, expecting the worst. We all loaded out at the same time, and I turned my back at the last second.

"Whoa..." the two guys said in unison. I kept my eyes covered and my back turned. "How bad is it?" I whispered.

James and Henry grabbed my shoulders and spun me around so quickly, the sudden rush of movement nearly made me puke on the spot. I gagged and coughed. "Heather, look!" said James.

I allowed a quick peek between my fingers, but my hands quickly dropped to my sides.

"Oh..."

The Chapel was absolutely gorgeous. Something important was missing, rather __somebody, __but it was very nearly perfect.

The large room had been left seemingly untouched by Vincent, and perhaps this was how he preferred it. It was all of Team Silent's special brand of beauty and symmetry. The rows of church pews were all in place, the religious paintings were all there and intact. Beyond the carved pillars was the altar. The stained glass windows of God and the man and woman were there, softly lit from behind. The hanging light fixtures above cast just enough light, and the tall candles threw shadows along the floor and the walls. I had to admit I'd never seen it looking so good; even in 1080p.

Henry and James had already left to wander around the room by themselves, and I breathed a heavy sigh of relief as the headache let up enough so that I could walk straight. The Double Head followed closely while I stepped forward with cautious optimism. The place was built to be oppressive, and the air in the room felt a bit heavy, but I found that it didn't really bother me at all. I moved on to the right and stood in front of the piano. I pressed a finger down on one of the white keys, but C_lunk!_ it was either broken, or hadn't been given a proper audio sound.

_A Tale of Birds without a Voice._

I turned back around and checked behind the altar for the Eye of Night tarot card, usually lying on the tapestry next to where Claudia _should_ have been standing.

It was gone.

"So Vincent might still be a priest," James said, admiring one of Masahiro Ito's mythos paintings.

_But there God's strength ran out,_  
_and She collapsed._  
_All the world's people grieved this_  
_unfortunate event, yet God_  
_breathed Her last._  
_She returned to the dust,_  
_promising to come again._

"Of course he is," I replied. "It's perfectly in character for him to be a greedy jerk, so maybe... I guess I can see why he made the casino. It's just so... so _obvious._ I dunno, maybe he only did it to piss us off."

"He did a good job there..." muttered Henry.

"He's always been annoying, but... not like this," I said. "See? This is what happens when you give an antagonist free range. They go nuts."

James nodded knowingly.

We joined back together in the center of the room. "I guess the others are still back at Brookhaven," said James. "What should we do now?"

"Well, hopefully they were able get Leonard to give Claudia a call," I said. "I usually run into her right here, before she slips away. She lives here in the Church... and I remember where her room is..."

I looked over at the door to the right of the altar, and then back at the door we'd entered, feeling torn. The Double Head seemed to pick up on my indecisiveness, and nudged one of its faces gently into the side of my leg.

_The monsters need me._

I ran through my inventory and selected my katana, then raised it up defiantly. "We've gotta get moving guys. The series is depending on us. We can't let him screw around with our environments or our monsters anymore."

Henry and James turned their heads and looked at each other, and I started to feel a bit self-conscious, but Henry raised his steel pipe, and James dug through his pockets briefly before looking disappointed.

"For Silent Hill," said Henry, with a sheepish grin.

"For Silent Hill," James grinned too, though rather uncharacteristically.

"For the monsters!" I said, as Henry and I clinked our weapons. I sprinted over to the right side door and flung it open, feeling better than I had in a long time.

The black screen cleared, and I rubbed my eyes for what seemed like the millionth time. The walls and floors looked a little too clean for my taste, and the brightness may have been set a few bars too high. I walked up and tugged hard on the doorknob to the confessional, curious to see if I could get inside on this particular playthrough.

"I forgot... What happens here?" asked James.

"It affects the ending," I replied. "Some lady's in there crying, and you can 'Say nothing' to leave her hanging, or you can 'Forgive' and she shuts up."

"How does it affect the ending?" asked Henry.

"Forgiving her increases your chance of getting the Possessed one," I said. "But since I haven't killed a single thing yet, it's not gonna do anything."

"Oh yeah, the one where you knife Douglas off screen," remarked James.

"Yep, but he's probably not even at the Park right now, so uh..." I pried open the door next to the confessional to hear the disembodied voice of the woman bawling her eyes out. "I forgive you!"

There was a brief pause, and then she sobbed a quiet, "Thank you, Lord." I slammed the door shut again.

Henry once again stood looking thoughtful and withdrawn, and James and the Double Head were peering down the hallway ahead.

"Which way to Claudia's room?" asked James.

"This level's pretty linear, with only one back track," I said. "Just go with it."

We moved down the halls confidently, keeping a look out for any potential danger. The brass key door was locked up as usual, so we gave it a pass. The next room up on the left contained some metal folding chairs and a whiteboard. Probably some sort of conference room for the cult crazies. A single Closer was chilling out in the far corner. I gave it a quick salute while we passed by, and shot Henry a "just don't" look once I caught him powering up an attack. He lowered his steel pipe again, looking rather taken aback.

Down the uncluttered corridors we continued, and the layout was pretty much the same. It did look strange of course, without the usual blood splattered floors and walls, but I felt a presence keeping a watch over us and knew Valtiel was probably lurking close by. The particular length of hallway we were standing in was decorated with more religious paintings of heavenly angels—quite a few I'd never seen before. An unlocked door was to our left as we faced north. I opened it and led the way in.

It was the Church belfry. A massive glowing Halo of the Sun was painted on the floor, and the paintings of the three saints were hung up on the wall surrounding it. I had already been made to examine them a countless number of times, and knew them by heart, but James and Henry were eager to check them out. Instead, I knelt down before the oversized save point and tried as hard as I could to save my progress.

It wasn't happening.

"Saint Jennifer..." said James slowly. "Like that statue in Rosewater Park."

_St. Jennifer: Unwavering Faith Under Death's Blade_

"Saint Alessa..." murmured Henry. "Heather?"

_St. Alessa: Mother of God, Daughter of God _

"Yeah, that's me," I said. "The one holding the baby, and the baby being held... It's just an old Silent Hill throwback."

"What about that guy?" asked James, pointing over to the Saint Nicholas painting.

_St. Nicholas: Miraculous Hands, a Doctor of God_

"You know the cult's based off a ton of different religions," I said. "He's a real saint as far as I know... I'd look it up if..." I paused, frowning. "If I still had my phone on me..."

James seemed to want to change the subject. "Alessa, huh. Hey, what's it like being a saint in the cult? Must be pretty weird... I guess it makes sense since you're the most important character in the series."

"It's all well and good until somebody makes a crappy movie with an even crappier sequel," I replied, standing back up. "Anyway, this save point's broken too. Let's just keep going."


	9. Chapter 9: The High Princess

****Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever****

****Chapter 9: The High Princess****

The belfry room had been a dead end, so we returned to the angel painting hallway. I listened for the sound of the crying little girl, and looked all over for the tiny footprints, but this wasn't the Nightmare Church. Temporarily stuck, James and Henry waited patiently in the corner while I poked around for a clue about what to do next.

My ever helpful monster was sniffing around on the floor underneath one of the paintings, and soon it had leapt up onto the canvass; pawing, and clawing, and whining incessantly.

"No, doggy thing. I don't think that's the right one. It's way too small." I pointed at the more familiar angelic painting where the hidden door should have been. I'd shoved it aside and found only a bare wall.

The Double Head's whines grew higher in pitch and annoyance until I finally wandered over. "Alright, alright... Let me take a look." I grasped both sides of the picture frame and pulled to the right. It wouldn't budge that way, so I tried left. It then slid rather easily, as if built on a mechanism. Behind it was a small key and a folded note scotch-taped haphazardly to the wall. I grabbed the key first and examined it.

_This was the old model for my room key._

It was the brass key from the butterfly display case in my old room. I went ahead and tore the paper off the wall, and then unfolded it with an annoyed sigh.

__Hiding things can be fun, but I'm not hiding from you.__ read the unsigned note, but I assumed it was from Vincent. The message was his style of cryptic obnoxiousness, though the real giveaway was the handwriting, which looked similar to the scribbling on the back of the __Find the Holy One. Kill her? __photograph.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" I asked, after having read it aloud to the party. "And he should be hiding... 'cause I'm gonna kick his ass as soon as I see him."

Henry looked amused, and James pointed back over his shoulder and asked, "So that key unlocks the door we passed earlier?"

"Uh-huh, and it's cheating big time. This key belongs in Alessa's—well, __my __old room. So we've basically skipped past most of the level. I have a bad feeling about this..."

The Double Head and I traced our steps back to the conference room with the two men in tow. As we approached it, I felt a strange sensation come over me, and my stomach tightened up a moment before I opened the door—probably just some of my leftover psychic powers. Inside, we found all of the furniture in place, and no obvious signs of a struggle, but the Closer had collapsed in a heap. Dead.

I sighed heavily and walked over to crouch down next to it. "This is... pissing me off. Seriously. Finding them dead like this. It's like..."

"Like someone's doing your job for you?" asked James.

My shoulders sagged. "No... I guess you two wouldn't understand." I couldn't think of anything else to say, so I gave the Double Head a quick pat and moved over to the other door.

Down the corridor we continued, until we bumped into the locked door from before. The brass key fit the lock without a hitch, but I paused before entering. "Should we wait up for my da— Harry and Douglas?"

"I've been kind of worried about them..." said Henry quietly. "Did Harry even have any weapons in his inventory?"

"Depends on where he was in the game when I summoned him," James replied. "I guess at worst he'd have his handgun."

"There are still a ton of Nurses in Normal Brookhaven," I said. "But hey, he's probably got his steel pipe at least if he runs low on bullets. It's in that alley before the part with the Wizard of Oz keys." The idea of Harry killing __my __Nurses should have pushed all of my buttons in the _worst_ way, but strangely... I felt okay about it.

__Maybe there's something wrong with me, __I thought, looking down. I examined my own hands carefully, turning them over and back. My orange wristbands and watch... my skin texture... everything _seemed_ normal...

__Am I really...?__

"Heather?" It was Henry.

I was startled, but shrugged it off as nonchalantly as I could. "Ah-yup. Let's go through this door here," I said, turning the doorknob clockwise. "See ya on the __otherside___!_"

"Heather..." said James gently. "Wait a minute..."

"What?" I huffed. "Let's just get this over with. No matter how weird it gets."

"Were you thinking about Harry?"

"No," I replied sharply. "And I'm not worried about him, either. If anything I'd be worried about Douglas." I was lying, but they couldn't tell.

James cracked a smile at first. "Heh, yeah." He paused, then continued, "I was just thinking how hard this game has been on you... thought maybe you might want to rest for a minute."

I rolled my eyes and turned back to him, one hand planted firmly on my hip. "What do I look like, Maria?" Then I glanced at Henry, who looked equally concerned.

"I'm designed to be tough," I scoffed. "And I'm not a _child_, you know. I might be fatherless for real now, but I can get through this game just fine. Hell, I still can't figure out why I decided to drag you two along. And it's creepy of you to be up in my business like this." I paused, darting my eyes back and forth between them suspiciously. "What's gotten into you guys?"

They looked at one another.

"It just feels a little too real to me..." Henry said in a low, solemn voice. "I guess when we go back to our games, it'll go away... but I keep having this terrible feeling..."

James nodded, looking back down the hall cautiously. "I feel it too... didn't want to say anything. And worse, I almost feel like a real person at times. Then I wonder if it's really just Vincent doing this to the game. Speaking of which, I wonder what he's got in store for you, Heather... Do you think he could he actually be dangerous?"

I reached for the doorknob again. "Well, I told you. He's a coward. I don't think he's even capable of holding a weapon... and the only things that can kill me now are the monsters." I leaned forward and thumped the Double Head on its side with my free hand, and it looked up at me adoringly. "And I don't see _that_ happening anytime soon."

The loading screen cleared, and we found ourselves once again in alien surroundings. A spacious open lobby of some kind that I'd never seen anywhere in the game before. Eight worn, yellowish sofas lined the walls, four to each side with dark end tables parked next to them. I moved over to one. There were some magazines stacked on top. Nothing filthy this time, and a couple of them I had already read. The rest didn't look too interesting. I backed away and glanced up and around. There were no windows to be seen, but fluorescent lights hummed overhead, giving off plenty of light. A large circular desk made its home in the center of the room, decorated with a few unidentifiable leafy potted plants. It also held three dated computer monitors with keyboards and mice, and two white office phones placed on either side of an antique typewriter. Above the desk on two chains hung a black cloth covered sign, like the place had been abandoned, or perhaps, simply wasn't functional yet. The thin industrial carpet under our feet was a depressing blue-gray and the walls a shade of light gray with dark smudged corners. At least the environment wasn't __too __clean. It wasn't exactly un-Silent Hill-like, but it didn't feel quite right... like someone was copying the art style.

We passed the desk and moved on ahead cautiously, keeping a lookout for any signs of life. Off to our right was an alcove. A pair of vending machines were sitting against the wall inside, but they were dark and didn't seem to be plugged in. Against the opposite wall sat two more potted plants, a wooden bench and a "Stash Your Trash" garbage can. All stolen from the Mall, no doubt.

As we continued on, the building opened wider and the ceiling had extended upward. Above, domed light fixtures cast our short shadows on the drab carpet. The whole level was starting to look massive, and signs of construction were soon made apparent. Four long, dimly-lit corridors stretched out before us, each branching off into its own direction. The one on the far left was blocked off with some yellow caution tape, a wheelbarrow, and bits of scattered debris. A single identifying character displayed overhead: the number 1. The next was marked with a 2 and clear of any obstacles. 3 and 4 were to the right of that. Each length of hallway was filled with a varying number of mysterious wooden doors. The numbers were a no-brainer, really, but that didn't make them any less disturbing. The layout was weird and reminded me of a certain famous prison in Philly. Though the place_ looked_ relatively harmless, it just felt... sinister.

My head had been aching for hours, but the migraine came back suddenly—and with a vengeance. It throbbed its way to the front and settled right behind my eyes. I dropped to one knee and groaned as the dizziness returned, ready to torment me for another round. But then, there was something else. I gasped suddenly, pressing a hand to the front of my chest. I felt like I might puke again sure, but my heart was racing and it felt like I couldn't breathe. The Double Head whined and nuzzled its split heads gently into my right side. _What in the hell_ _is this...? A panic attack? _How should I know? I'd never had one before, or any reason to. I coughed on the next inhale and James glanced back over his shoulder warily. He and Henry had wandered up ahead, and were now peering down their respective hallways curiously.

"I'm fine," I said, trying to shake it all off. I gave the monster a reassuring pat and stood back up as straight as I could manage. James walked back to join us, followed by Henry.

"Should we split up here?" James asked. "Maybe we all fight our own final bosses. Wouldn't that be something." He slid his hands down into the side pockets of his jeans, once again coming up empty. "Uh, well. Never mind."

I shook my head. "This is still Silent Hill 3. There's one final boss, and it's God. Well, just this once it might be Vincent... and you leave him to me." I pulled open the menu and put away my katana, and then selected and equipped my illustrious gold pipe, fully intending to cave Vincent's skull in with it.

"Fancy," mumbled Henry.

"Isn't it," I said, forcing a smile.

I led the team down Hallway 3, holding the pipe against my shoulder and checking out each doorknob with my left hand. A shiny brass nameplate had been drilled into the first door, engraved with my full name: Heather Mason. It was locked. "My room's back in the apartment," I muttered. "This can't be here." I twisted hard on the unturnable knob feeling irritated, and maybe a little violated, too. Even my sacred place had been desecrated in this madhouse.

Oddly, Douglas Cartland must have had a room some place in the game too, because that's what the name on the next door said. Also locked.

Leonard Wolf as well. His door opened, but there was nothing inside but a carved dark oak desk holding an old-fashioned rotary dial phone left off the hook.

The next one was boldly marked: Equipment Room. __The lock is broken. I can't open this door.__

James tapped my shoulder. "Hey uh, do you think _Mary_ might have a room somewhere around here?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I guess. If you wanna go check it out, feel fr—"

He was gone before I'd finished my sentence.

The Double Head and Henry followed me closely down the hall while I tried out the rest of the doors. Audio Room. Broken locked. Corpse Storage. "Yuck," I said. Thank God that one was locked.

Father Vincent. Locked.

"Move." I told them (a bit scarier than I had meant to). They both backed up. A flutter of nervous excitement. I knocked on the door politely, widened my stance and readied my pipe. No answer. I gave the door a small frustrated kick. "Yeah, nothing is ever _that _easy," I grumbled, turning away. Henry just sighed and nodded.

Claudia Wolf.

I pressed an ear to the door and tapped softly. "Claudia?"

_"It's open!"_ came a muffled cry, much to my surprise.

I shooed the Double Head gently aside and grabbed onto the doorknob. "Wait here, please," I told it. "And if you see any trouble bark like crazy, alright?" The Double Head gave an eager nod and a soft "Arf!" I stepped forward into the loading screen, and Henry went with me.

The screen went dark and hung up briefly, and in the blackness, my nose was hit with a peculiar smell. Like cigarette smoke being covered up by too much floral air freshener. We finally loaded in, and we were in Claudia's bedroom in the Church level, but...

"Hey, hold on a sec, I've got company," a voice said from somewhere off to the side. I spun around and there she was, reclining on her bed. One leg up on top of the other, resting back on two fluffy pillows.

"Claudia...!?" I rubbed my eyes for the bazillionth time. They were starting to burn.

"I'm going to have to call you back." She was looking right over my shoulder as she ended her phone call. "Sorry about that," she said, scooting to the edge of her carnation pink bedspread.

Her long blonde hair was now parted on the side, and pulled into a side ponytail—quite out of character. She still had no eyebrows to speak of, but I could tell she'd been experimenting with makeup, and a thin layer of pink gloss was shining on her lips. Her weird cultish attire was gone, but at least she was still clothed in black. She was wearing a pair of dark skinny jeans, and her top was covered in a half buttoned sweater coat. I blinked hard as I lowered my gaze. She was wearing shoes for the first time that _I'd_ ever seen: black leather riding boots.

She looked...

...weird.

For Claudia, anyway.

"Who's your cute friend, Heather?" she asked, without so much as a glance my way. Her accent had faded quite a bit.

"Henry..." murmured Henry, "and you?"

Dammit, hadn't I just said her name twice?

"Claudia," she purred.

"Alessa," I corrected, trying not to let_ too_ much anger show through. "You're supposed to call me Alessa. And you were _supposed_ to say your lines to me in the elevator hallway. And now we've got... ...issues."

I was on the floor now, taking it all in. The previously bare room had been fully furnished, and I was kneeling on wall to wall dark purple plush carpet. I saw white bookshelves, a matching vanity, and an entertainment center holding a ginormous flat screen TV. There were current gen game consoles and controllers with flawless cable management, and Blu-ray and game cases arranged neatly on the unit's shelves. Real life music and movie posters were hanging on the clean, lavender painted wall straight ahead, and with them some heavily pixelated framed family photos. I turned my head to the side, shaking all over. Three clothes racks were off to our right, overflowing with different outfits, belts, miscellaneous accessories, and purses. The mountain of shoe boxes in one corner of the room _really_ set me on edge, and my heart began to pound with anxiety.

Although I had to admit, the clothes were pretty nice.

"Where's Vincent?" I demanded, keeping my voice as steady as I could. "Did he do this, too?"

"Oh, all this? Yeah, he gives me things... I think he's trying to win me over." She was leering at Henry, and sauntering her way over to him. "Don't think anything of it, though... he's not my type at all."

Henry took one nervous step backwards.

"Claudia, for God's sake!" I cried. "We can fix this right now if you just say the lines!"

She stopped in her tracks and looked at me. "What?"

"Tell me I need to 'remember my true self' and 'that which I must become' and all that jazz! Please!" I was pleading to her, probably needling over into the whiny range.

She frowned as she finally turned to face me, but Henry seemed relieved. "That's not going to do it I'm afraid," she said.

__What.__

"But God!"

"Heath—I mean, Alessa, it's _your_ fault there will be no God. You haven't been leading us to Paradise with blood-stained hands."

__WHAT.__

"Wha..." I stood up angrily. "This isn't_ my_ fault! It was _your_ damn script problem!"

She shook her head. "You already know your true self, so it wouldn't matter if I said the lines." She let out a bored sigh. "And you should know that in order to grow God within you that you have to give and receive pain. You have to kill monsters, you have to feel pain. Pain_ and_ hatred. On that end, I'll admit _some_ fault, but really... we don't need God."

"_WE NEED GOD, CLAUDIA!_" I shrieked, like some kind of deranged Bible-thumper. "What in the hell's gotten into you?! Didn't Leonard ever call and give you a talking-to?"

She rolled her eyes and held up her smartphone. "He calls me all the time. Who do you think I was just talking to?" Then her face lit up with a smile. "Vincent's been mediating for us, and honestly, things are so much better now between us. He apologized and I've forgiven him for beating me up all those years."

__Oh, how nice.__

A horrible, _hollow_ feeling tore straight through my chest, and my eyes started to sting even worse. "Wow... looks like you've got it all now, huh," I said, my tone _dripping_ with sarcasm. "Cool stuff and an awesome dad who's still alive. 'Way to go Claudia'." My voice had begun to break up near the end, and a lump had formed in my throat. I bit my tongue as hard as I could while blinking back the impending waterworks.

"Heather..." said Henry softly, and I felt his hand rest lightly on my shoulder.

"Whatever. I'm happy for her, I guess."

Claudia shrank back a little, turning away to the side. "But I didn't..."

"Yeah, well, it didn't really change anything," I replied, almost tearfully. "But I'm fine. I'll get out of your face now."

She paused, looked at me again, and I could tell she felt __something.__

Pity.

There it was.

I grabbed Henry's hand off of me and dragged him along as I stormed back over to the door.

"Some 'High Priestess' you are," I shot at her, just before we loaded out.


	10. Chapter 10: The Exploited

****Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever****

****Chapter 10: The Exploited****

Henry was standing off to the side, letting me have my moment. I walked the long stretch of hallway angrily up and down. The Double Head trotted a few paces behind, echoing my stomping footsteps. My anger gradually subsided... and after a while I just felt like crying it out. My first instinct was to run, sobbing into the arms of my father... but he was only a retextured James corpse model.

And Harry...

_"___My daughter is back in our game with her own character model. Sorry."__

That was just cold.

I slid down to the floor next to my monster and buried my face into its dried bandages. It pawed at my arm and howled mournfully, comforting me the best that it could, and I did start to feel a little better having something to hold onto. "I love you too," I said, not giving a damn whether Henry heard me or not. I gave the creature a warm squeeze, wondering if I'd ever be able to hurt another monster of any type again. But then I did feel embarrassed... because it really _was_ my fault the god would never show. I __was __the worst protagonist ever, and probably _did_ deserve to be excommunicated. I swept my hair to the side out of my eyes and sighed deeply, wondering if I should just duck out of the game for good.

Was it even possible?

"Sorry 'bout that, Henry..." I said, after pulling myself back up to a stand. "I, uh... I'm not used to feeling... well, anything like this, I guess. It's not easy..."

He moved back over to me and slowly nodded. "You know... everybody picks on me for being so dull and emotionless. But really... I feel things the same as anyone else. I just like to keep it to myself..."

I blinked, surprised to see him open up like that. "Yeah..." I said. "Until you see a monster or a ghost... or Walter, especially. You must have some serious pent up rage _somewhere_. I've seen you get all kinds of crazy with that rusty axe."

He chuckled, but only a tiny bit.

"And you're so protective of Eileen through the second half of the game... And that Escape ending... it's really cute. I think people who call you emotionless are dumbasses."

I _thought_ I saw him blush, but I couldn't be sure.

"Let's go check out 4, then we'll go see if we can find Frank's psychotic son," I said.

Hallway 4 on the far right was built similarly to 3, though there were many more labeled doors to investigate. We split up on either side to check them. Henry jogged straight for the Eileen Galvin door, but it was locked up tight. I quietly wondered what had taken him so long to go looking for her, though I wasn't about to bring it up.

The Double Head waited close by while I moved down the hall, trying out each doorknob without much enthusiasm. The Audio Room was broken locked, the same as Hallway 3. The next four doors were locked: Richard Braintree, Joseph Schreiber, Ghost Storage (again, thank God), Cynthia Velasquez. One of the doors looked a bit strange as I approached it. An off-white index card had been taped over the nameplate. _302_ it said. Feeling nosy, I picked at some of the tape with my fingernail. A corner of the card peeled back to reveal the name: Walter Sullivan. __Huh, so he gets a room too? __Another unusual thing was a hole, drilled rather unprofessionally below the nameplate, about the width of a quarter. An improvised peephole, I guessed. I leaned in closer for a peek.

__What the...__

It looked_ a lot_ like Henry's apartment, but switched completely over into the nightmare version... and __people __were in it. I spotted big bad Walter in his blue coat, stretched back on the sofa with his feet propped up on the coffee table in front Henry's television set (still a chunky CRT TV, thank goodness). My jaw dropped once I noticed the woman standing in the kitchen wearing a pink striped tank top and short dark blue jean skirt. It was Eileen, of course. Apparently unfazed by the rust and blood covered _everything_, she was stirring a sauce pot on the stove with one hand, and staring at the glowing screen of a mobile device held in the other. Two opened up cans of off-brand Chef Boyardee were sitting on the counter next to her.

__How the f... hell can she be alive...? That's the 21 Sacraments ending, isn't it?__

"What's going on in there?" asked Henry, nearly startling me into a heart attack. I cupped a hand over my mouth to stifle a yelp.

"Uhh, uhh... umm... _can'tseeanything_!" I said, quickly blocking the peephole from view. "Must be a one-way only."

He nodded once, crossing his arms. "Yeah... that must be why I can never get anyone to see me through mine..."

A man's scream rang out through the air. A harrowing sound, like the ending note to a death scene. It sounded a lot like James. Henry and I exchanged panicked glances, and then bolted down to the end of the hall with the monster chasing after us. Hallway 2 was the obvious choice.

"James?" we yelled out now and again, "James, where are you?" The Double Head howled and jumped up onto its hind legs, pawing at one of the doors. I hurried over to it and wrenched open the door handle. The nameplate read: Merchandise.

I loaded in first. There were a few lights on in the back, but the room was pretty dim upon entering. I reached up and turned on my flashlight out of habit, and to the right of the door I found a row of light switches. I flipped all of them, and the room brightened with a soft buzz of fluorescent lights. Henry appeared next to me a second later and we assessed the surroundings.

_Whoa._

It was like a superficial Silent Hill 2 nerd's dream come true. The place was a fairly good size, and it was jammed full of all sorts of stuff. There was a constant theme going on, that was perfectly clear. Lots and lots of Pyramid Head, and lots of Bubble Head Nurses.

"Jeez..." I heard Henry whisper.

"James...?" I called out weakly, looking around in a state of mild shock. T-shirts and hoodies, all printed with Pyramid Head. Lunch boxes, coffee mugs, backpacks, and plushies; even a baby's onesie. I walked forward numbly, stopped, and stood there with my mouth agape, staring at all of the different things packed high to the ceiling. Some artwork covered boxes were lined up on a metal shelf to my left, and I turned to investigate. They were figurines, a few of which had been opened and unwrapped. They were surprisingly well-made, hand-painted and gorgeously detailed. Most of them were monsters (particularly Nurses), but when I wandered over to the other side, I saw a few Jameses and Marias. Angelas and Eddies, even Marys! No Lauras, though. A large bin of rolled up posters blocked my path. I shoved it out of the way with my boot and moved on. "James, where the hell are you? This isn't funny and definitely not in character. You hate tricks."

"Found him," called Henry, who had followed the Double Head into one of the back storage rooms.

I nearly tripped over something in the way of the aisle. A knocked over life-sized statue of the Big Pyramid himself, clutching his Great knife in both hands. It was pretty tacky to think of someone having it in their house, and the number on the price tag was absurd: 5,000 bucks. _Man, w_hat a world.__

James had been reduced to a quivering mass on the floor, tucked up into a fetal position. The Double Head was sniffing and licking his dirty blonde hair into a cowlick, but he was oblivious. Henry was standing over him. I watched him bend over to tear something out of James' rigid fingers. A thick stack of papers bound together.

"What is it?" I asked, walking over to join him. More taped boxes stacked on pallets narrowed the way on either side, and I had to step over the unresponsive James.

"Looks like... a film script," Henry replied, handing it over for me to inspect.

"Oh, like a Silent Hill 2 movie? What's so bad about— umm... ...never mind." Again I remembered how shockingly bad the first two movies had been, and had hoped that they'd finally hit rock bottom, but Konami just loved to keep on rockdrilling anyway. I stood and flipped nonchalantly through the pages, expecting pointy pyramids, cheesy dialogue, and plot holes galore.

"Uh... Henry."

He was down on one knee, trying to shake James out of his catatonic state. "Yes?"

"It's a porno."

"Uh... Oh... my God." He let go of James and looked the other way. "That's terrible..."

"With Maria and Pyramid Head... and some... Nurses."

James made a low whimpering sound, and shut his eyes tightly.

Disgusted, I dropped the script on the floor with a dull _thud. _"Dammit, this is horrible! I'm sorry James! That's like...! This is just..." I let out a shuddering sigh and frantically wiped my hands off on the sides of my skirt. _No_ protagonist deserved such a repulsive treatment of their game, no matter _how_ crappy of a person they happened to be.

Henry and I grabbed hold of James' arms and pulled him up off the floor. We then dragged him through the doorway alien abduction style. He didn't put up a fight.

"Vincent's _done_," I said breathlessly, carrying at least a third of the weight of a full grown man. "_Done_. Do you hear me? When I find him... I'll kill him myself." Henry was scowling as we moved back over to the Exit door, and he'd gone awfully quiet again. I reassured myself that keeping Eileen and Walter a secret had been a good idea. He was like a ticking time bomb hidden beneath a calm exterior, and I didn't want him inadvertently bludgeoning Vincent into a bloody pulp with his steel pipe. He was _my_ antagonist after all, and I'd make for damn sure he would pay for what he'd done... the suffering he had caused.

_"Suffering is a fact of life. Either you learn to deal with that or you go under."_

__Oh, shut up, __I silently grumbled, remembering the lines of my game script. That was _then_, when everything made sense. It didn't really apply now.

__"Revenge doesn't solve anything."__

Douglas had told me that at my father's "funeral", but I'd never actually had a father. Maybe it shouldn't have bothered me, but it did. And Douglas wasn't being much of replacement father figure to me this time around—too wrapped up in playing Mystery Inc. with Harry. My thoughts then turned back to Harry denying me as his daughter, and the whole depressing cycle began anew. It was like rubbing salt, and lemon juice, and battery acid all at once into a fresh wound. I sighed heavily once we had loaded back out into the hallway. My life had really gone down the crapper, and Claudia had it so good, it made me sick.

I _almost_ wanted to go after _her_, too.

__Toughen up, girl. __

I bit my lip and squinted hard to keep the looming tears at bay. I had a job to do: a bad guy to kill and a game to finish.

Henry and I laid James gently down on the floor in a recovery position, then sat across from each other with our backs to the wall to rest for a moment. _"Heather!"_ called a voice, echoing from somewhere up ahead. It sounded, amazingly, like Douglas.

"Yeah!" I yelled back. I couldn't see him, but I heard his hurried footsteps. "We're in 2!"

"To what?"

"Look up, dummy!" I found myself smiling just a little in spite of everything, and wrapped an arm around the Double Head sitting beside me.

He poked his head around the corner. "Oh, _there_ you are," he said. "_Jeez,_ that Hospital was something else. And who the hell's Stanley Coleman? He really skeeved Harry out."

I shrugged. "Just some weird guy. I didn't think he would bother leaving those out for you."

"Did Harry make it out okay?" asked Henry.

"He, uh..." Douglas paused and removed his hat. "Yeah, he's okay, I think. I was slowing him down too much, so he went on ahead. Haven't you run into him here yet? He said he was gonna try to talk to Claudia."

My mood went dark again.

_What, does she need two dads now? _

Yeah. I was bitter.

"What's goin' on with him?" Douglas asked, peering down at James.

James muttered something incomprehensible, but he'd managed to pull himself up to a sit.

"He's seen things, man," I answered. "Leave it at that."

"Are you okay, Heather? You don't look too—"

"I'm fine," I interrupted. "Nothing you need to worry about. So I guess the Leonard phone was nowhere to be found, huh?"

He nodded disappointedly. "All that work for nothing... Eh, who am I to complain. Harry fought all the monsters."

"It was worth a shot," said a voice from around the corner, "but she's not cooperating." Harry finally made his appearance, and he looked pretty worn out from the Brookhaven level and his trek through the Park. The Double Head was setting off his pocket radio. He reached up and switched it off, then he took a seat on the floor beside me and rested his head back to the wall, gazing upward. "I need to think for a minute."

_Yeah..._ I thought darkly,_ I'm sure you damn near persuaded her to death in there..._ Then I felt awful just for thinking it. I remembered how much of a scumbag Leonard used to be, and how Harry would _never_ behave in such a way. I looked down at my locket, then back at him, feeling conflicted again. Then I started to panic internally. I was sure that Claudia had told him what I had done. Hadn't done, rather. But if she had, he gave no indication he knew anything of it.

Henry quieted a yawn with the back of his hand as he sat, not far from the broken down James. The Double Head spun around in circles a few times, doggy style, before laying its split heads across my lap. I turned my head and looked over at Douglas. He stood alone, leaned back against the wall at the open end of the hallway. He was holding his hat in one hand, and seemed to be lost in thought.

_He's probably thinking about his son._

This stupid playthrough was getting to all of us.

"I'm killing Vincent," I said, breaking the silence.

"No, you're not," said Harry firmly. "Something bad will happen if you do, and I won't allow it."

"It's my game," I replied flatly. "If you're not my father, then you can't tell me what to do." I stared blankly at the wall ahead, well aware that everyone was looking at me (except for James).

_"Heather."_ whispered Douglas.

Harry grabbed my wrist roughly, and I'll admit, I flinched. But his eyes met mine with concern, rather than anger.

"If you do it, something __terrible __will happen... and I'm not sure what," he said. I felt him squeeze around my hand. "I know that you've been through far worse than any of us here, but you can't lose yourself now."

I blinked and turned away, unable to look him in the eye any longer. I caught a glimpse of his fingers when he pulled his hand back. They were stained with reddish smears. _Monster blood? _I stole a glance to the side for a better look. The entire arm of his left sleeve was dark, glistening wet, and he'd pulled the sides of his jacket close together in an attempt to hide the blood-stained vest and shirt beneath it.

"You got hurt in there," I said quietly.

"Nurses packing heat. That's new to me," he replied, resting his head down against his arm tiredly.

We sat there for several more minutes, and I just wanted to get moving.

Harry spoke up again. "Try... Try using the Aglaophotis," he suggested. "It's the only thing I can think of."

"Okay..." I found myself saying, and before I knew what I was doing, I was already in the inventory screen. I selected the pendant and pressed 'use'.

__I can't use that here.__

"It won't let me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

He glanced down warily at the Double Head resting on my lap, and then he grimaced while he searched through the inner pockets of his jacket. "I'm out of ideas then," he said. "All we can do now is talk to Vincent and find out what's making things like this. Even I'm beginning to feel the effects... and I saw the names on those doors." His gloomy expression grew ever darker. "It's only a matter of time."

James whispered something unintelligible. I looked up, only to see that his haunted eyes weren't focusing on anything in particular.

"What happened to him?" asked Harry, looking over.

Henry shook his head without returning a glance. "Just leave him alone for a while... he'll snap out of it eventually..."


	11. Chapter 11: Now Here

****Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever****

****Chapter 11: Now Here****

I dug around in my menu screen for the handwritten note I'd stashed away earlier, then passed it over to Harry.

"He __somehow __got the key off the wall in my old bedroom," I said. "And that's what he left with it... But his door's locked over in 3. Haven't found a key to it yet."

"I don't have the map of this—" began Harry and I in unison, and then we stopped and looked at each other. Henry cracked a smile, and Douglas seemed to be entertained. James went on ignoring everything that was happening around him.

"Anyway..." I shook my head a little to clear it. "I can draw a map of this place, but someone has to start it for me. In crayon if possible, with some cutesy children's drawings."

Henry strode back over in the direction of the lobby, and I took a moment to study the doors of the hall we were currently in. Merchandise, Angela Orosco, and Audio were to our left, and to the far right James Sunderland. Across the way, the Mary Shepherd-Sunderland and Maria doors were practically next to each other. Most presumably locked or broken locked. I had my doubts that any of the rooms in the level would prove useful (unless we were all purposefully seeking out our own personal hells), but I knew I had to give them all a try.

Harry coughed into his sleeve suddenly, and then I watched him discreetly wipe away a small spot of blood from the side of his mouth. Some of his hair had fallen down into his eyes, and he was slumped back heavily against the wall. The sight was alarming, given his normally immaculate appearance (even after battling with giant demon Moths, Lizards, and Gods), and he looked just terrible to put it bluntly. Like he'd been run over by a truck.

"You okay, Harry?" Douglas asked warily.

Harry shook his head. "Pretty sure I've got some internal bleeding," he said. "But I should be alright once I get back home." He coughed into the arm of his sleeve again, and pulled his jacket back together.

"Are you _dying_?" I asked. "Like... over time?"

"I think so, yeah. I just hit the red a minute ago... But it's fine. Let's stay focused on finding a way to get through this level."

__Are you kidding me?__

I felt like shaking him.

"Stop being so coolheaded about this!" I cried. "You can't go keeling over now! What'll I do if you die?"

"You'll have to go on without me," he said. "I was being played on Hard difficulty at the time I was called... by a very unskilled player. It was near the end of the game and they used up every health item I had. There's nothing I can do about it."

Henry came jogging back up to us, holding onto a blank sheet of paper he'd ripped out of the front desk's typewriter. I snatched it out of his hand and pressed it to the floor. "Draw a bunny please, Henry," I said. "You don't have to make it look too good... Oh, and a house with a triangle roof there on the right." I flipped the page over. "An apple tree should go here," I pointed. He uncapped his pen and got to work right away with a look of deep concentration.

"Does it hurt...?" I asked Harry, staring anxiously at the bloody streaks he'd left on the carpet and wall.

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't," he responded wearily, and that's when I began to notice just how shaky and pale in the face he'd gotten. I reached over and grabbed onto his right hand.

It was freezing.

_Goddammit._

I got up and ran over to Douglas standing by the end of the hall. "Health drink? First aid kit?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Main characters only."

"But Maria in 'Born from a Wish'!"

James slowly raised his head and mumbled something, but I was fairly certain it was in Japanese.

"Yeah, but she only used 'em when it was her scenario," said Douglas.

I rolled my eyes. "I _know_ you guys ran into some health items. Normal Brookhaven is packed full of them... and there was definitely an ampoule in room C2."

He glanced over at Harry, and then he leaned in close to me and whispered, "We talked about this already... but he wouldn't listen. He said they were 'strictly for Heather use only'."

"_You old fool!_" I yelled, spinning back around. "How could you get yourself hurt like that!?"

"I was_ trying_ to save your ending," he shot back. "...And I'm not old, I'm thirty-two."

"Maybe I don't __need __a good ending this time. Did you ever stop and think about that? I have a dark side too, after all... And _my _bad ending's way better than dying in a freakin' Jeep."

His jaw set firm as he narrowed his eyes at me, and now he actually did look pretty mad. "You remind me of my daughter sometimes," he said.

I smirked and put a hand on my hip. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah. She never listens to me either."

"Well, newsflash: I __am __her," I countered. "I'm the reincarnation of the restored soul splits. If you'd pull your head outta your own game for once, you'd know that."

I had the upper hand now, so I went in for the kill. "And I _still_ remember drawing that awful picture of you on the sketchbook cover," I said dryly. "And I remember Mom, too... and I'm not talking about Dahlia."

I could tell I'd struck a nerve, so I bit my tongue after that. He looked unsettled, but he had nothing else to say. I crossed my arms and turned away, feeling irritated. Then I started to feel a bit guilty for picking a fight with someone propped against a wall, mortally wounded.

Henry's quiet-spoken voice came up from behind me. "I'm finished," he said. I turned back around and saw him holding up the paper. "It's not in crayon, but... one bunny rabbit, house and tree... and sorry if it sucks, but that's what you wanted... I drew some of the Church level too, to get you started..."

I stepped up and retrieved the map from him. "Awesome, thanks," I said. "Hey, uh... do you still have that nutrition drink on you by any chance?" I jerked my thumb over towards Harry and raised my voice loud enough for him to hear. "He's blinking red over there... and you might have to pin him down and feed it to him."

Henry looked over, and gave me an understanding nod while he stood back up.

I pressed the map flat to the wall and got on with sketching out the new area, glancing up now and then as the ensuing argument grew more heated as time went on.

_You told me you were the strongest man in the world..._

Or had he? Silent Hill 3 had really cut the character of Harry Mason down to size, but Harry of Silent Hill was made of tougher stuff. Yet there he was, bleeding out in a lonely hallway out of pure stubbornness. I shook my head slowly, and went back to drawing the layout of the level, but I couldn't shake away that guilty feeling from before.

_I should apologize sometime._

The rubble and tape from Hallway 1 had cleared on its own, and I wandered up and down with my monster as I made note of each door. The Harry Mason door was first, the same as mine had been. Audio was to the right of it, followed by Lisa Garland, Corpse Storage, Dr. Michael Kaufmann, and Cybil Bennett. None would open, as I'd expected. I tried tapping on most of them, but they were either locked on both sides, or perhaps soundproofed while locked. Whatever the deal was, my senses were telling me that the rooms weren't empty, and it definitely made me feel uneasy.

On the opposite side, Dahlia Gillespie was mercifully locked, and the Equipment Room was broken locked as usual. Directly across from Harry's door was Cheryl Mason. I did hesitate for a minute before trying to open it. I guess I was a little worried about screwing up the space-time continuum any more than it had been. More likely, it was probably the intense amount of jealousy I felt. _Jealous at myself? _I brushed off the disturbing thought quickly, and chalked it up to my own sanity, hanging dangerously by a thread. Not to be left out, Alessa Gillespie was also present and accounted for. I lingered by both doors for a time, resting a hand and pressing my ear close against them. Were we really all trapped in there? Transfixed by those weird smartphones? Or perhaps locked in against our will? I stepped back from them questions unanswered, but a sense of confinement locked onto me and wouldn't let go—almost overwhelmingly.

_Just like the old days._

I shivered a little as I moved back down the hall. Maybe in some way it was a kindness that both Alessa and Cheryl were locked. It would have been pretty uncomfortable for all three of us.

The James and Henry doors were also at the front of their appropriate hallways. After that it went seemingly random. There were rooms for the antagonists, and the supporting roles, and broken locked Equipment and Audio doors in each. Only Hallway 2 had merchandise for sale, which I suppose could have been taken as an insult, but after finding that dirty movie script earlier, I felt very much relieved.

_"Use it, damn you!"_ bellowed James, and his irate voice echoed throughout the empty halls. He was finally back to his hot-tempered old self, and he sounded about ready to manhandle Harry if necessary. _You tell him, _I thought, as a smile crept over my lips.

"If you die here, it might be for good..." said Henry sensibly. "Just take it... we won't watch you drink it..."

At the very end of each hallway I found a heavy metal door, set into the back of the wall. Unlike the carefully labelled doors nearby, these were unmarked and there were no signs posted anywhere to suggest where they might lead to. They were built of solid, reinforced steel; heavy and impossible to budge. At the first door, I placed both hands on the metal bar, then shoved forward as hard as I could. The bar pushed inward as if it might open, but the door itself wouldn't budge. It didn't appear to be locked or broken, and if anything, seemed to be held closed with a mysterious force. Unsure of what to make of them, I left all four unscribbled on the map.

I had devoted at least half an hour to exploration, and drawing had taken up quite a bit of that time (not that I cared about my ranking anymore). I crouched down and showed the completed map off to my monster, who arfed an approval. I scratched it under one of its chins, and we made our way back to Hallway 2 to join the others.

Harry looked a little violated, but he was sitting up more alert, and some of the color had returned to his face. I refrained from asking, if only to spare him some dignity. "Okay, guys," I said. "I'm stuck again. The Father Vincent door is locked up good. No keys, no weird items to pick up, nothing."

I held up the map for all to see, quite proud of my red x's, scribbles, and lines. It was the first map I'd ever drawn on my own without automation, and I thought I'd done a pretty good job with it.

James, appearing much better now, pointed to the wide door at the end and asked, "Where do these doors go, and why aren't they marked?"

"They're not locked or broken, but they wouldn't open up," I replied. "I didn't know what to put down..."

"Every final level has to have an Exit," muttered Harry. "We just never noticed because it happens off screen. It's how the protagonist makes their getaway at the end of the game."

"So they'll open once the game's over?" asked Henry.

"I'm assuming, yes... They might just be our way back."

"But why would we get Exits?" I asked. "Didn't Vincent build this part of the level? Does he plan on losing the fight?"

"Maybe it's the work of the Old Gods," said James thoughtfully. "They tend to keep_ some_ things in check. We're still in Silent Hill after all, and I know they still hold power. I venerated them to channel into the game... and to bring Harry here."

"Hey... now that you mention it, how did Henr—" Suddenly, the floor felt like it was vibrating, then gave way to an actual quaking. I fell over backwards and held onto the Double Head for dear life. The shaking subsided after about five seconds, but it felt like a lot longer.

"What the hell?" the four of us stated in perfect synchronization. Only Douglas and the monster were quiet.

I ran, straight back out into the open lobby area, and scanned the room to see if anything had happened. The vending machines in the alcove to my left were now lit up, and a pair of restroom doors had been added on the opposite side. While I waited a minute for the others, I took a few seconds to mark the changes onto my map. The Double Head wandered back and forth nearby, sniffing curiously.

"Heather, you'd better take a look at this," said Douglas.

I glanced up. "What?" Then dropped my pen on the floor. "Aw, sh... hell."

A blank wall had been there before, separating Hallways 1 and 2 from 3 and 4. Now it had a new hall of its own. I walked up for a quick look, though this one was much shorter than the others. A red scrolling marquee sign had been mounted above the only door at the end.

__Testing... Testing... Testing... __it flashed, over and over again.


	12. Chapter 12: Chilling Time

**Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

**Chapter 12: Chilling Time**

The guys were taking their sweet time helping Harry become mobile again back in Hallway 2. I strolled around the lobby area with my Double Head, taking in the unfamiliar sights with no immediate sense of urgency. That new hallway was pretty unnerving, and I guess I _was_ afraid of what could be in there. All bets were off as to what could be waiting behind that door. Probably Vincent (fine), possibly a fire-spewing demon (that would be okay, too), or three hundred chainsaw-wielding Robbie the Rabbits, or Godzilla.

I rubbed my eyes, trying my hardest to ignore the headache that had plagued me for the last twelve hours or so. It was probably a lot longer, but with all of my save data corrupted, my sense of time was all screwed up. The oddest sensation tugged at me from below—like a whining twinge. I turned and looked back over my shoulder at the door to the ladies' room and wrinkled my nose. Silent Hill bathrooms are almost always disgusting, and I had never peed before in my life.

I could hold it.

The Double Head arfed and looked up at me, wagging its stumpy tail. I reached down to give it a pat, and the movement of my reflection caught my eye. It was in the front glass panel of the vending machine a few feet away. I looked bloody terrible at first glance, and quickly averted my gaze, but soon I found myself drifting over to it. I stared at the dark circles under my eyes, my disheveled hair, and my tired expression. Fair enough, maybe I wasn't the prettiest girl to ever grace the series, but I wasn't used to seeing myself looking so damn _ghastly_. I ran a hand over my bottle blonde locks, smoothing them down. I rubbed my eyes again for good measure, and my nose, and heaved a long sigh.

This game had gone on long enough, but I guess I didn't want _some_ things to end. I would miss my monster of course, first and foremost, and I had to admit... hanging out with the other main characters could be fun sometimes, too. I had grown to care about all of them—whether they realized it or not. James had become a lot like the crazy uncle I'd never had; the type to get too high-strung and belligerent at family Christmas parties, thrown out into the snow, and locked out of the house. And _yeah_... Henry _was_ kind of a big hunk. I wasn't about to lie to myself there. And he was protective even if I didn't need him to be. But he was still Eileen's main squeeze, and besides that, he was probably a bit too old for me anyway. Then there was Harry, who I did find to be way too traditional, stubborn, and _painfully_ dadlike. He was trying to stay in character the hardest out of all of us, so I guess I could see where he was coming from. Definitely the "good guy" of the series, just as James had said... No wonder we couldn't seem to get along.

In the end, I would miss everyone. But I knew that it wasn't fair of me to keep them away from their games for very long. I knew that deep down James wanted to go hunting for Mary again, and Henry had to rescue Eileen. Harry had been played almost to the end of his story, and health items or not, I was confident that he would have been able to beat the game on his own. Only now he'd been shot through by Brookhaven Nurses trying to help out _my_ ungrateful ass. That bulletproof vest would have come in handy (if I could get him to equip it), but it had only been available in the Nightmare Mall.

It really was all my fault.

I could ignore the call of nature easily enough, but I'd gotten very thirsty from running around for so many hours. I peered into the machine in front of me. It was packed full of different drinks. Canned juice and coffee, grape flavored soda, iced tea... all with strange brand names. I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of drinking anything that came out of this crazy place, but I guess it didn't really matter since I had no money. I hadn't picked up any strange silver coins lately, either. My eyes wandered to the side. The second machine held a decent variety of junk food and snacks. I scanned the inside, checking out the similarly shaped textured models. There were backwards labeled chips, low-poly jelly beans, and blurry pretzel-looking things, among other weird stuff, but it all looked pretty unobtainable. I glanced down.

_What's this? _

Maybe a practical joke by Vincent or the Old Gods, but someone had stuck a couple of packages of "Bell Bland" beef jerky down at the bottom, well within reach. I crouched next to my sniffing monster and stuck my arm inside. I snatched one up and examined it. "For dogs only" the menu said. I ripped open the package and held out a piece for the Double Head. "Easy... easy..."

It shot me a look, at first, like maybe I was being condescending, but it took the food gently out of my hand. It eased down to the floor and began to gnaw contentedly.

_You're really the only one who gets me around here..._

Without any hesitation, I leaned forward and gave it a peck on the top of its right split head.

"Heather! That's groooss!" It was James.

I jumped, then turned my head back at him. "Oh, shuddup. It's_ my_ monster."

"Who would ever..." He shook his head with a sharp look of disapproval before turning his back on me. I then saw that the others had come over to join us. Harry had managed to drag himself up off of the floor and out of the hallway, but he was slightly hunched and had his arms folded while he stood there. He just looked wiped out. We all did, come to think of it.

"Are we ready to get a move on?" I asked, standing up.

James turned back around. "I uh, kind of... have this 'feeling'... you know?" He stopped for a moment. "Well, it's like... if you've gotta..." he trailed off again, and he had a troubled look on his face.

"I know I do," said Henry, and he'd already started to make his way over to the men's bathroom. James cut in front of him.

Douglas raised his eyes at me in a cursory glance, and then looked back over his shoulder. "Guess I'll go have a smoke then," he said. He turned and disappeared around the corner in the direction of the marquee posted door, until all I could hear was the sound of his fading footsteps, and the faint clicking of his lighter echoing down the hall.

Harry was still standing there.

I turned to face him. "I um..."

He unfolded his arms and looked back at me.

"I just wanted to say sorry for everything," I said quickly, and went to try to move past him, but he grabbed my shoulder in a rather uncharacteristic manner.

I put my arms around him, instinctively.

_Not Dad._

I started to pull away again, since he'd kept his arms at his sides in typical Harry fashion, but also because I'd noticed that he was having a bit of trouble breathing. His vest ripped away from mine, leaving behind a large, bloody print.

"Sorry," he said, looking down at himself with disgust.

_The fear of blood tends to create fear for the flesh._

It was getting super awkward.

"It's okay... it happens in the game anyway," I said gently. "Did I... hurt you?"

"Yeah, everything hurts now. But I don't mind. I just need to ask you to do something for me while we've got a minute alone."

I looked him straight in the eye. He sounded even more serious than usual. "What?"

"I know you're upset with Vincent, but I don't want you to..." He hesitated for a moment, looking at me carefully. Then he sighed and shook his head. "I want you to promise me that you'll at least hear him out. He probably has plenty of exposition... and we might be able to learn something from him."

I paused to think it over for a minute.

"Okay. I will."

"You'll leave him alive?"

"Long enough for him to explain himself, yeah."

Slowly, his face softened into a look of relief, and he gave me an appreciative nod. Then, he turned his attention to the machine over to the side of us. I stood there in shock as he pulled out his steel pipe, swung it up over his shoulder, and _smashed!_ the everloving hell out of the glass. Tiny glinting shards flew everywhere, startling my monster and causing it to cower behind my thighs.

_Holy crap._

He wiped his hands off on his jeans, and then he reached down, picking out a cold bottled water from the bottom shelf. I continued to gawk while he twisted off the plastic cap and proceeded to down about half of the drink in one go.

A few seconds later, he turned back to me.

"Blood loss dehydrates," he explained calmly, smoothing his hair back with one hand.

_Holy crap. Holy crap._

Douglas had returned to see what all the commotion was about, along with Henry and James. They were all staring now, probably just as stunned as I was.

"Let's get you all home..." I said softly, tucking my gold pipe away.


	13. Chapter 13: NOTICE: Hell is Coming

**Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

**Chapter 13: NOTICE: Hell is Coming**

_..._

_Where am I...?_

_..._

_My head was swimming..._

_Was I dreaming?_

_..._

_Wait._

_What were we doing again?_

_And why...?_

_Because._

_Because Harry's gotta chase after that little girl with short, black hair. Even t__hough he knows he will never find her._

_And James just can't live without his Mary. B__ut he'll be fine. B__ecause he knows he can always bring her back._

_And Henry knows he'll never escape from his apartment until he wiggles through all of __Walter's symbolic gopher holes. __Someone's gotta save poor Eileen._

_As for me, I'm kept busy with facing my past, but I'm really on a quest for revenge. Because some crazy cultist bitch killed my father in his sleep... and now she's gonna pay._

_"Heather...?"_

_We run in the dark, we run in the light. We run through the gloom and the fog. __We're searching for something we know is there, or something we know that isn't. __We do it because we have no choice. We'll do it again and again. __Never in fear, not in the least, because we already know what's ahead._

_"Heather."_

_I guess it's because I'm always suffering some kind of identity crisis, or maybe I'm just fed up with the routine. Because sometimes I do want to steal that nice silver ring (bummer it's gone now, huh). And last time the cash in that Nightmare Cafe looked awfully tempting... _

_But I didn't, and I won't, and I don't care what that stupid Midwich desk said. 'Cause I'm no thief (though I may act like one now and then)._

_But..._

_I know it's terrible... but I really do love carrying that switchblade around wherever I go... _

_Maybe__ I do enjoy spilling their blood... and listening to them cry out..._

_Don't I?_

_I don't know._

_I really don't know who I am anymore._

_..._

_Oh, the grates are back. Surely that's a good thing. _

_It means God is on Her way._

_..._

_"Heather Mason!"_

_Dad's yelling... better say something._

_..._

_"Dead people don't yell."_

I might have mumbled something like that.

My raw throat burned and I couldn't see anything. No biggie, I went for my flashlight.

It wasn't there.

I was lying flat on my back on the cold, hard ground. It wasn't comfortable and my head was pounding as hard as ever. And so what if I couldn't form a coherent sentence? I'd try anyway.

"Grates...?"

"Heather, look at me."

I think someone was touching the side of my face. Then I felt my hair being brushed back out of my eyes.

"It's too dark..."

"No, it's not. Look."

I cracked my eyes open just enough to satisfy them, and then it felt like I was being smothered. Too many bodies huddled around me.

"Back up, she's alright." It was Harry.

"What happened to her?" That was Douglas.

"She freaked out... happens to the best of us." James, from the sound of it.

"Grates?" I kept asking, but no one was providing an explanation.

Five people, a monster, and two flashlights among us. Harry had his and Douglas was holding one too. I held out my hand. "That's mine, isn't it?"

He handed it over.

I felt warm fur and cloth strips rustling softly against my arm. The Double Head was standing guard. My other hand fell away to the side, and rusty metal scraped against my fingertips.

Grates.

"What's going on?"

"You were fine one minute, right up until we came in here..." said James.

"She's fine now," said Harry quickly. "Just gave us a scare is all."

I lifted my flashlight beam and squinted when I looked up. The pain was incredible.

"Did it shift?" I asked.

"No," he replied. "Too much control. I can walk right through that door we passed and it's exactly the same." He shone the broad beam of his flashlight behind everyone. I turned my head slowly...painfully. The door was way back behind us, but I could see that it had been left open a tiny bit, and a bright glow was peeking its way in.

"I don't even remember going through it..."

James was giving me a strange look. "As soon as we came in you went running ahead of everybody... and then we heard you screaming your lungs out. And I thought..." He shuddered and wrapped his arms around himself. "Well, I guess I thought you might have run into _him_."

"Wow... sorry..." I muttered. I almost didn't believe him, but everyone appeared to be rattled enough, and my throat was burning, and the corners of my eyes were damp, and despite Harry's coaxing, no one had actually given me any breathing room yet. I pointed my flashlight up again. The ceiling looked ancient, covered in rust or dried blood, and the walls were just as discolored.

"Wait. Where are we...?"

Harry sighed. "We told you, the door is right over there."

"But it looks like..."

"I know, it looks like it's being invaded by the... you know. But that can't be. It's clearly fake."

"How?"

"Just a fake environment."

I had to stop there because I was getting queasy again, and damn was I ever tired of it.

I would have rather gone up against the three hundred Robbies.

"I need help..." I was horribly embarrassed, but Harry held out his hand without comment. I took it and was pulled up to a wobbly stand. I turned to rest my hand on the wall. It was rough and scratchy, like old damaged boards. I looked back, then forward again. We were in a narrow tunnel of some kind. The texture work wasn't half bad, but not quite on par with the original team. I reached down and patted the Double Head, though it was more to reassure myself.

"Have any of you ever gotten a migraine?" I asked. "Like... a really killer one?"

No one responded at first, except for Douglas, who shook his head.

"Not really..." said James slowly. "I do get strangled a lot. And I'm always pricking myself... but I don't think it's ever hurt."_  
_

"The ghosts... and the box in the super's room..." said Henry. "I don't remember..."

Harry turned to me, keeping his flashlight's beam pointed away. "I get headaches... and I think I spend all of my time in Silent Hill with a mild concussion."

"Yeah, but how much did it bother you?"

"I don't think it did," he said, not sounding very sure at all.

"This hurts," I said. "I'm trying... It's just really starting to wear me down."

"Are you gonna be okay...?" asked Henry, and he moved closer to me.

"I hope so... but it's making me wonder about things."

"Like what?" James asked. "What are you getting at with all this?"

"Like... real life, I guess... Life outside..."

Harry frowned. "But we're still only characters... I was shot twice in Brookhaven, and I seem to be dealing with it."

"But this isn't your game, is it?"

"If Vincent gets his way, who knows what could happen." He sighed and folded his arms. "I'm just afraid... for all of us."

"I feel like I'm losing my mind," I said, truthfully. "We just aren't designed to deal with this crap. If we were real people, we'd all be locked up in a loony bin for sure. Especially James. Well... I guess he'd be in jail."

"Shut up!" James snapped. "I had my reasons... She was—"

"See, you didn't care before."

He scowled, but he also looked a bit depressed.

I felt bad, and tried to think of something else to say. Coming up empty, I just touched his shoulder when I passed by. I shook myself mentally and took a few unsteady steps up the tunnel, which at that moment I could have sworn was swaying just a little from side to side. The Double Head pushed its split heads up into my right hand. I scratched it behind the ear halfheartedly.

"Forward," I said, and then awkwardly pointed the way. I meant to say "Let's go", but it came out wrong. Oh well.

The clanking footsteps of the four men trailed behind us. I was in a sorry state, but I tried to maintain somewhat of a decent pace. The grated tunnel seemed to stretch on forever. Was it some kind of trick? I didn't think it would be, and I pointed my light up as far as I could see. There were double doors ahead, thank God.

"Do me a favor, guys," I said, raising my weary voice as loud as I could over their footsteps. "It's important. Promise me something."

James chuckled lightly. "You know I don't keep promises very well," he said. Jeez, what a mood swing he'd just had. I was really starting to worry about him.

I sighed and stopped for a second. "Just promise me none of you will lay a finger on Vincent. No matter how snarky and obnoxious he gets."

"That's an easy one," said Harry.

"Yeah, I guess..." said Henry.

Douglas called up from the rear of the line, "I'm not gonna be there."

"What? Why not?" I asked.

"Hell, Heather. I'm not even supposed to make it to the Church."

"But you've been pretty helpful this time through..."

"Exactly. It's not like me."

He had a point there, and I was in no condition to argue.

We finally reached the double doors at the end. I pushed forward on the handles and they swung open. We loaded through. Inside, the walls were starting to look even weirder, though, the place had a disturbingly nostalgic feel to it. I knew it from somewhere, but it all felt_ off_, and that just made everything worse. We moved on ahead and Harry and I pointed our flashlights around and over to the right.

It was an elevator.

"This looks awfully familiar," said Harry.

"Man, if Alchemilla had these graphics..." I muttered.

I could feel him glaring down at me.

"Sorry," I said quickly. "It still looks pretty amazing for a PS1 game..."

"It's in full 3D with no pre-rendered backgrounds, give it some credit," he said.

"You know what I like best about Silent Hill..." said Henry softly. "It has a really good story... that isn't too complicated."

"Yeah, I like that too," I said, and glanced over just fast enough to catch Harry smirking a bit.

We went ahead and approached the elevator, but Douglas was hanging back.

I turned back to him. "Here?" I asked. "Really?"

"Yep."

"Can you just make sure everybody gets back okay? Please?"

He took off his hat and smiled warmly at me, even though he looked tired as hell. "For you, Heather? Anything."

My eyes were starting to burn again.

I ran forward and just about knocked him over with a quick, character-annihilating hug. "Thanks for always being there for me... and for helping me get rid of that stupid phone," I whispered.

He gave me a good-natured squeeze. "Anytime," he said. He straightened up and began to dig through one of his inside coat pockets. He handed me something.

I stared down at it, flipping it back and forth. It was the long lost Fool tarot card from my old hospital room.

"Holy Hell..." I muttered.

"Found it on the floor in the hall back in the Church," he explained. "Thought it might mean something to ya. A fool and her dog, y'know." He nodded his head towards my monster.

"Now that I think about it... this thing used to kind of piss me off..."

Henry chuckled quietly under his breath, and I couldn't help but grin. Then, I broke out into a laugh.

"Try walking the path of the Hermit sometime," Harry said with a sigh, and a heavy hint of sarcasm. "If _that_ doesn't make you feel like an old geezer... nothing will."

Everyone was smiling now, to some extent, and the lift in the mood somehow eased my headache up enough that I felt like I could take on damn near anything. I went ahead and punched the call button to the right of the elevator doors.

We waited.

The elevator came, and the doors slid open with an oddly cheerful_ ding!_ I motioned for the others to go in ahead of me.

"I'll see you on the next game," I said to Douglas, before stepping in.

"You better believe it," he called back.


	14. Chapter 14: Puzzled

**Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

**Chapter 14: Puzzled**

"I should've given him my flashlight," I said, shaking my head.

"He'll be fine," Harry said. "He told me he gets around without one all the time. How do you think he gets past all those monsters?"

"Huh... Never really thought about it."

I looked over to the right and studied the panel for a moment. I was almost certain B1 would be the only working button, but I mashed the others just in case.

"Going down," I said, with a feeling of unease. I smacked the button and huddled into the corner next to my monster. The floor shook, and a low mechanical hum permeated throughout the cramped quarters. The elevator made its descent.

"What's wrong?" asked James. I glanced up and saw him peering down at me.

"I've had some bad luck with elevators today," I answered quietly.

"So? This one seems okay."

"Yeah, I guess so." I kept my head down, and thought about flipping up my hood for once.

"It beats jumping down holes..." said Henry.

"Eh, I wouldn't mind that either," said James.

The elevator began to slow, and the floor shook once more as we came to a gentle stop. Once again the doors parted with a strangely gleeful _ding!_ Like a mockery, really. I was probably already well on my way to slipping off the deep end forever. I just found the noise_ extremely_ annoying.

_Screw elevators._

I got back up to lead the way into the unknown area. I kept my flashlight in my hand and pointed it ahead while stepped out.

It was a new room, and fairly large. Harry moved forward and joined me as we scanned the unfamiliar surroundings. The air inside felt damp and gross, and a shiver ran down my spine. The temperature had taken a sudden dip. The walls and floor were old concrete, stained in large spots with green. Our footsteps fell without much of an echo. The ceiling was way up high, and the four fixtures above struggled to give off a pale light. We kept our flashlights on._  
_

Straight ahead of us was a set of double doors, painted a chipped dark brown. That wasn't so special. More interesting was what lay on either side of them. I wandered up for a better look, breaking away from the group. The Double Head came with me.

There were colored tile squares built into the wall. Nine at a time in a perfect three by three square pattern, two sets on either side of the of the doors. The tiles looked like they were made out of some kind of semitransparent glass, and each was about the size of my hand. Every tile was a different color, and some of them were beautiful. I stopped and my gaze settled on the set just to the left of the doors. The first to grab my attention was a light cornflower blue, followed by a teal, and then a dark gray. The set above that was a pale green, followed by black, and then a light honey brown. The bottom row held a light amber tile and next to it was a much darker brown. The bottom right tile was dark red.

They stood out in this place, for sure.

"What's this," murmured Harry. He'd snuck up right behind me.

"It's a puzzle, obviously," said James impatiently, walking up.

"I know that," Harry snapped at him. "I'm trying to figure out what it means."

Henry stood back from us, resting his chin on the back of his hand.

I reached out to touch one of the tiles. It felt cool against my hand... and then it disappeared into the wall about half an inch.

_Ka-thunk! _went the double doors.

I glanced over to the side, then back at the others. "Ummm... oops."

"Dammit, Heather!" growled James, stomping angrily towards me. "Tell me you didn't just lock that thing!"

Harry stepped in between us, and Henry pulled back on the collar of James' jacket.

"Now, hold on," said Harry. "Take a look at this."

He pointed his flashlight beam at the door handles and we gathered around for a better look.

The doors looked beat to hell, to put it lightly. Like someone had gone absolutely crazy trying to open them. There were dings and scratches marring the paint, and that was only the beginning. They looked like they'd been kicked and smashed and _burnt, _even. The wood around the metal handles was scorched black, as if someone had taken a torch and gone to town. I bent and peered closer. There had been a silvery symbol carved into the wood, circular in shape and split between the two doors, but I could barely make out the lines anymore.

"Jeez..." I muttered.

Harry lowered his beam down to the floor, and then back up along the wall. "Yeah... looks like somebody got impatient."

"I didn't mean to mess with it... How would I know you can re-lock a puzzle?"

"I don't think you locked it," he said, and pointed off to the right. "There's another door over there, and I have a feeling..."

I walked over to it and pulled hard on the doorknob. It twisted just fine, but it was being held firmly closed.

"I knew it," chuckled Harry.

"What's it mean?" asked Henry.

"He made his own way through."

"He can't solve his own puzzles?" I snickered. "Man, what a loser." Then I almost let out a giggle as I imagined Vincent screaming and kicking the door, and trying to burn it down of all things. I would have given anything to see it.

James crossed his arms, but he looked much calmer now. "I don't think he made it..."

The Double Head arfed faintly. I hadn't even noticed that it had trotted off somewhere. I started towards the sound, but the monster came bounding back up to us. It dropped something on the ground and panted up at me in a doggy-like way.

"What is it?" I asked. I crouched down and picked it up. It was a wadded up sheet of paper, and it was pretty darn wet from being slobbered all over. I tried to unfold it, but it fell apart in my fingers.

It had been torn to shreds.

"That was supposed to be our clue, I think," said Harry.

"Wait a minute," I said, peeling apart a few of the slimy pieces and laying them on the ground. "I think we can still read some of it." I sat down against the wall and began trying to fit them back together.

"What a pain," muttered James. "I can't believe the Old Gods would pull a stunt like this... Aren't they supposed to be on our side?"

"I'm sure they have their reasons," Harry said absently. "We'll just have to see what happens."

James unleashed a long frustrated groan as he sank halfway down to the floor. "I'm so damn_ tired_... Why don't we ever get to sleep?"

"I do," Henry said. "I guess... since I always wake up in my bed..."

I gulped and quickly went back to rearranging the torn papers. I didn't want anyone to know that I'd been zonked out in the motel room at Jacks Inn while James had braved the black waters of nighttime Toluca Lake. The Double Head and I shared a look. "Shh," I whispered. Then I remembered it was incapable of telling anyone much of anything.

Harry sat down next to me and laid his flashlight on the ground to help add some light.

"How are you holding up?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

"Yellow," he replied. "Stable."

I sighed. "I mean how do you_ feel_?"

"Pretty drained, to be honest... and my shoulder's killing me." He rubbed his eyes with one hand, and then leaned forward to look at the pile of papers. "Let's try and figure this out," he said. Then he put an arm around me.

I froze, but tried to play it down.

'"Here are four paths... 'something' re... reversed...'" I said slowly, reading what I could. "Then... 'something'... right.'"

"Left to right," he said simply. He might have been beat, but he was still pretty sharp.

I had to hold the next two scraps together. "'The first will... 'something'... without the second...' It's ripped too much there."

"Okay."

"'The second will live without the first'."

"'Die'?"

"No, 'live'."

"Sorry, I was thinking about the first line. 'The first will die without the second'. The word there looks short, and it seems to make sense."

"Oh... okay." I picked up the next few pieces. "'The fourth'...'something'... 'the fate of' ...'something'... 'third.' That part's really torn up..."

He nodded. "Don't worry about it."

"'The third knows nothing of the others.' That's the last line, but it's the easiest to read."

Henry wandered over. He'd had enough of James' moping.

"This is what I've got," I said. "'The first will die without the second, the second will live without the first. The fourth ...'something'... the fate of the... third, probably. And the third knows nothing of the others.'" I started to huff. "Are they talking about us? Because I happen to know a lot."

"'The fourth 'knows' the fate'? I do know a lot about fates..." He looked grim.

We sat quietly for a minute or two, and I started piecing together the second half of the page.

Harry spoke up. "It's out of order. The first refers to me and the second refers to you."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Because you live on without... uh, 'me'... in this game..."

I felt my heart sink a little, but I tried not to make a huge deal of it. "So James and Henry are what?"

"Yeah... what am I?" asked James. He was sprawled out all over the ground in defeat, and his tone was resigned, bordering on miserable.

Henry turned his head back at him. "I'm fourth... I know what happens to you in my game."

"So it's one and three, then two and four," I said. "That's just the first part, though. At least we know who stands where." I stared bleakly up at the wall behind us. "Now we've gotta find out what the square things are for..."

James rolled over onto his side in a dark corner away from everyone. "Yeah, wake me up when you've got it," he muttered sarcastically.

Harry glowered a little in James' direction, and looked as though he might say something, but then simply shook his head. He looked back down at the leftover scraps. "Is the rest in red?" he asked.

"Yeah... looks like blood or red ink..." I said (and silently hoped it was the latter). "But it's all smeared... Now it's gonna be harder to read what it says."

The Double Head whined lowly from its spot on the floor.

"Yep, wonder whose fault that was," I said, giving it a soft thump on the side. "Give me a second." I set my flashlight down on the ground next to Harry's and repositioned them as close as my aching head could stand.

It got pretty quiet for a long while, but I didn't really mind.

_T... ...se ...ulers ...ide... ... ... a mind as...d...r; the last loc...ed in ... ... ... ...e. Q...k to fl...ght, l... t... ... the elde... led th... ch...r... ... ... ... ... l... ... ...d ...f ... ...i...l..._  
_ ... ... ... ... ... ... a...e ... c...se th... meant noth...ng, becau...e ... ... ... ... w... no... ...he y...g...s..._ C... ...ad ...s ...h...

_L...k in t... ...ro... ...d wh... ... ... s... R... ... ... di... ... ... ...t ...a...s ... co...r ...oun...i... ... s...ry pools of e... ... ... ... ... ... l...o...king in...o ... ...s._ Ea... ... ... ..., ... ...d th... pl...ce.  
_...d if ... ... en...h... ...m...s ...f ... l... ... c... ... ... to... ... ...d ... if ... ... ... ... ...e ...r c... ...e ... ...aring ... righ... ... ... ...ce._

_...ne last ...ng before the r...ddl... is d...e. One f...r all, all b... on... _

I read it over one more time and sighed, dropping the last crumpled scrap down onto the floor. There were too many ruined words, and even if the message hadn't been wrinkled and smeared to hell, it probably still would've read like stereo instructions.

I shot a sideways glance at Harry. He still had an arm draped around my shoulders, but his head was bent and his eyes were closed, resting back against the wall. I hated to have to move, because he was comforting, but after a minute or so I gently pulled away. I got up and turned around to examine the puzzle again.

Henry was lying idly on the floor in a semi-doze, both arms tucked back behind his head. He blinked and looked up at me. "Did you get it?" he asked softly.

I shrugged. "It's hard to make out," I whispered.

I reached up and gingerly poked the red tile.

_Ka-thunk!_

Harry jolted upright with a start. "I was thinking."

"Sure you were," I grinned, though I felt kind of sorry for him. "Who's the 'eldest' in here? I know I'm the uh... kid."

"I... uh... don't actually know how old I am," Henry admitted.

"That's strange... do you know how old James is?"

"Nope."

"See? This is why we can't be real people. We don't even have birthdays..." I paused with a frown. "But I know today's not mine..."

Harry pulled himself up, wincing and holding his left upper arm. "It wouldn't be far from Cheryl's."

"How come?"

"Because she 'just turned seven last month'. Not that I know what month it is... it's never really specified."

"People try to figure it out anyway," I sighed. "Okay, let's keep it simple. I_ think_ this says eldest to youngest? So maybe it's when the games came out?"

He stepped up to the first set of tiles. The same color scheme, but mismatched. I watched him touch the bottom center tile. It was teal.

_Ka-thunk!_

James turned over and sat up. "Stop doing that."

"Get over here, we need you," called Harry.

He dragged himself up and staggered over to the third set. "What do I do?" he asked crankily.

Henry got to his feet and made his way to set four.

I carefully flattened out the scraps on the floor. "Looks like... eldest to youngest. One for all, all but one... Pools of 'something'. Looking... 'something'." I leaned in and squinted at the last little bit. "'Staring right... in the face'? That's all I can really make of it..."

"Staring you right in the face? This must be Easy Riddle Mode," James scoffed.

"Huh?"

"_Eyes,_ of course," he said. "I stare at mine all the time in the intro..." His next sentence came out almost boastful. "Sato did that one."

Henry and I met with a brief shared glance of mutual FMV envy. Sato had only stuck around for the first two Silent Hills.

"So... what?" I asked, turning back to the squared wall. "We just touch our colors?"

"That's straight forward," said Harry. "Eldest to youngest... one through four. I go first, James hits the third, Heather is the second, and Henry goes last." He raised his hand and pressed down on the dark brown tile.

_Ka-thunk! _

He touched it again.

_Ka-thunk!_

"Hmm... maybe it's not as easy as that."

"But you don't have brown eyes," I said.

"Yes I do."

"They're blue."

"What?"

"If I had a mirror I'd show ya... But I don't. You'll just have to take my word for it."

He stared blankly for a few seconds, then slowly shook his head. "They're so dark in the menu... I can't really tell what color they are."

"They're blue, trust me." I pointed my flashlight right at him. He squinted and raised his arm against the glare.

"Okay," he relented. "Maybe so. We'll see."

"James, you're green obviously, and Henry's is the amberish."

"What about you?" asked Henry. "Yours look 'amberish', too..."

"One for all, all but one," I said. "I've seen enough Alessa and Cheryl symbolism to know that means me."

"Cheryl's eyes are dark brown... almost black," said Harry wistfully.

"Mine were... uh..."

"Alessa's are blue."

"Really? 'Cause the game looks so dark I can barely..." I stopped. "Dammit."

He smiled at me, then turned back to his squares. "Ready?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Let's do this."

He went first, and must have actually selected the right color this time, because the doors did not _Ka-thunk!_

James swiped a hand down his face tiredly and touched his green tile.

I pressed down the blue and dark brown, simultaneously.

Henry went for the amber on the far right.

_Click._


	15. Chapter 15: Frenemy

**Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

**Chapter 15: Frenemy**

_He's in there somewhere._

I hesitated momentarily. My heart was thudding so hard and loud, I was afraid everyone might hear it. I touched my right hand down over my chest to try to quiet it down, and felt the locket hanging underneath my clothing.

The Double Head pushed gently into my side, and I sensed the others getting into their positions behind us. I gave the monster a reaffirming pat while I checked my flashlight and slid it securely back into my pocket. Then I pulled out my handgun and made sure the magazine was fully loaded. I bit my lip hard.

"Heather, remember..." warned Harry.

"It's my game, you remember that," I replied. "I have a right to defend myself if he comes after me... or my own."

I heard him breathe a small sigh of relief.

"You two stay out of it." I threw a sharp look behind my left shoulder at Henry and James. "And I mean it."

"Yes ma'am," James said shortly.

Henry gave a more understanding nod, but his face was drawn and tense.

I raised my gun and went for the door handle with my free hand.

There was no loading screen.

I peered inside, following the beam of the flashlight. The next area was narrow and very dark. Worn horizontal boards comprised the walls, and the whole place smelled a bit strange. "Newish" if I had to describe it, which made no sense considering how old it appeared to be. There wasn't much to look at really, but a door was waiting across from us. I took a step in and heard the sound of noisy grates beneath my boots once again. The cautious footsteps of the others soon followed.

The door was unlocked.

I flung it open and pointed my gun with one hand, rather clumsily. The place was_ huge_. I stared straight ahead and squinted. My light's beam only went so far, and beyond that, there was nothing.

Blackness.

"What..." I whispered. I took several steps into the dark.

_"Wait!"_ cried a voice.

I stopped dead in my tracks, startled, but felt myself beginning to slip forward. I let out a small shriek when a hand grabbed onto my shoulder, but it pulled me back from the edge. I stumbled backwards instead.

"Heather!"

My monster had a mouthful of the bottom of my vest, and Harry had grabbed me just in time, but he wasn't the one yelling. It took me a few seconds to learn how to breathe again, and twice as long to recompose myself. I backed away carefully and turned around, still shaking.

It was Vincent.

We'd walked right past him. There he was, sitting off to the side of the door only twenty feet away. I gawked, simply because I hadn't expected to see him sitting there so casually. He had a blueish glow about his face while he sat in the dark, and dual rectangles of white light reflected off of either side of his glasses. My flashlight beam landed on him and he turned his head sharply to the right. "You can't go walking wherever the hell you want, give me a chance to install the floor."

"Vincent, ...what?" It was all I could manage to say.

"Get that light out of my face," he snapped, holding up a hand.

My hand reached up and switched it off automatically. Anything to make him explain what was going on.

"Thank you," he said. "Here, check this out."

I heard a faint _tap tap tapping_ noise, and shortly after, a soft_ click. _It came from his direction. The metal underneath us began to vibrate, though it wasn't very dramatic. The floor itself seemed to come to life with an orange glow, and the grates shot outward. A warm fiery light rose up through the new grated floor, casting shadows on us. I took a step back and the Double Head let out a yelp. The others backed away in surprise.

"Don't be afraid. It won't hurt—"

"VINCENT, WHAT IS GOING ON?" I interrupted. My eyes finally adjusted enough to see in the dimness, and I could now make him out completely. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor, holding a strange black object on his lap; like a large book with one side lifted up. It wasn't the _craziest_ thing I'd seen lately, but it _was_ the first of its kind. I started to feel sick again just looking at it.

It was a laptop computer.

"I have sooo much to tell you," he said with an unsettling smile. His speech was slightly slurred, and that's when I saw the drink he held in his left hand.

I myself, was struck speechless.

He waved his other hand in a sweeping gesture. "But first... I feel as though I owe you an apology, Heather." He paused, then added, "Not just you, either."

I turned my head back. Henry and James looked at me. Harry kept his eyes on Vincent.

I finally found my voice again. "Apology's not gonna cut it... Do you know what you've done?"

"What do you think I've done, exactly?"

"You've been breaking everything! Everything in the game!"

He chortled and took a sip out of his glass. "I haven't broken a thing... I've just been playing around a teeny bit."

"A _'teeny bit'?_" I stomped towards him. "You broke Lakeside!"

"Nah, I can change it back if you want."

_What the._

"You... you can change it back?"

"Not that it matters now... but yeah, I can. Why don't you calm down and I'll tell you everything." He snapped the lid closed on his computer and tucked it up under his arm before getting to his feet. He walked forward with a calm gait, but his clanking footsteps sounded a tad uneven. Definitely tipsy.

He strolled right on past me.

"Harry_ Mason!_" he exclaimed. "Never thought I'd catch you around_ this_ part of town..._ especially _since you're supposed to be dead."

He quirked an eyebrow and frowned a bit while he bent to scrutinize Harry's blood-stained clothing.

"You don't look so good."

Harry gave no reply. He was giving Vincent the best poker face I'd ever seen in my life, though his eyes were following his every move.

"And Jaaaames," Vincent continued, stepping around for a better look. "How's it going with you? Get any good mail lately? Oh yeah, that reminds me... I was looking _everywhere_ for _you_ earlier."

James shifted his weight from one leg to the other as his gaze fell. He looked unnerved, but he stayed quiet.

He stopped in front of Henry next. "She told all of you to shut up, didn't she? She can be pretty... bossy."

"Shut up," I said, unthinking.

He snickered and circled his way back in front of me. "I was worried about you, Heather."

"Why?"

"I've been trying to fix your save points. Do you know what happened to them?"

_What..._

"No... I thought you were the one who broke them in the first place."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you're a creep."

His mouth twitched, and a tiny glimmer shone in his eyes. He lowered his gaze.

"Oh, is that your pet monster there?"

The Double Head had both sets of its lips pulled back, and it was growling, but it was only guarding me.

I smirked at him. "Yeah, that's my monster."

"You're not even ashamed of yourself, are you?"

"Why should I be?"

He leaned in close to my ear—uncomfortably close, until I could smell the alcohol on his rank breath. I suppressed a shudder.

"_Broken protagonist,_" he whispered.

"I am not!" I had the gun in my right hand, and I felt my grip beginning to tighten around it.

"Oh yes you are, Heather," he said, pulling away. "I know _everything_ about you."

I could feel my cheeks flushing. He was about to let the cat out of the locker in front of everyone.

"But like I said before, I owe you an apology."

_Thank God._

"I should have never given you that phone. That goes for you too, Henry. I underestimated both of you and I'm sorry... Okay? I'm _sorry_. It was arrogant, and I apologize."

"Just tell me what they do," I said. "Claudia... you messed her up." I shook my head. "She barely even recognized me, Vincent. How could you do that to her? I mean sure, she's a huge bitch sometimes... but she's still like a sister to me."

The others shifted behind me. I didn't care.

"I'll give you the honest to God truth," he replied. "They're _supposed_ to make you more docile and forgetful. But... I'm not really sure _how_ they work. They're all part of the Holy Engine, which I'm still getting a feel for."

"What the hell is that?" I demanded. "It sounds really dumb."

"Hey, I didn't name it. It was given to me."

"By who?"

He knocked back the last of his drink and tossed the glass over his left shoulder. It shattered into pieces against the grates.

"Heather—don't you see? Are you really _that_ blind? I know you were built to be naive, but you're not _completely_ stupid."

The Double Head gave a low growl, and I felt it tensing up against the side of my leg. Again, my hand clenched around the grip of my gun, but I managed to restrain myself.

Finally, Harry said something. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

Vincent seemed pleased to be getting the extra attention. "Look at us! Well, don't look _too_ close. We all look like hell right now." He ran a hand through his greasy brown hair. "We're almost there."

"Where?" I asked.

"I wish I had more time to stall you, but I got so excited... I've been so busy getting everything ready for it, I haven't even slept."

Harry folded his arms. "Reality."

"Bingo."

_No freaking way._

"I'm not the bad guy you all think I am," Vincent said with a shrug.

"Yes you are!" I half-yelled. "A bad guy is exactly what you are! You're a greedy backstabber."

"I prefer 'enterprising', thanks," he said, fiddling with something in his pockets. "I'm seeing an opportunity here, unlike you blockheads."

"How, by turning Lakeside into a stupid casino? I bet that paid off, considering no one would ever go there."

"Don't you worry about that," he replied. "It'll be gone soon enough... And yes, it was bad... I'll admit it. I was only practicing."

"And your Sewer Fairies?"

He adjusted his glasses, then narrowed his eyes at me angrily. "They're already gone. Took care of them."

I might have had my reservations about them at first, but hearing that did make me feel sad. "You're not God, Vincent. You can't keep doing things like this."

"What would _you_ know about God?" He was doing that awful sneer again, and I was hit with a sudden surge of rising panic.

_Shoot him._

I went to raise my arm... and it fell limply back to my side. I felt eyes on the back of my head, and knew Harry was watching.

"I'm giving you all a gift!" Vincent proclaimed, pivoting around with his hands raised. "Just like Paradise!"

"You can't." I rolled my eyes. "It's not in the game anywhere."

He stopped and smirked. "Heather, I can do what I want. _Anything_ I want."

"Paradise isn't a pile of clothes and a bunch of stupid electronics."

"It can be anything you like," he replied. "You see, I'm way ahead of you all. You've been so busy playing through the game like a bunch of mindless sheep... Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one with a brain around here."

"What's your plan?" asked Harry. The tone of his voice remained astonishingly even.

"Glad you asked," grinned Vincent. "I'll start from the beginning, as much as I can remember."

"Fine..." I grumbled.

He wandered up ahead of us, and his uneven footsteps clanked against the grates as he talked. "You know how it is. I always 'wake up' in that clinic in the Hilltop Center... because that's where I'm supposed to meet you."

"Uh-huh."

"But... but this time it was different." He had his arms pressed behind his back, a wrist held in one hand while he gazed out over the darkness. "I woke up first, before anyone else. And I was outside... I was just outside of the Mall..." He stopped for a moment and folded his arms. "I had a vision! It was like I'd been given the _Sight_! I saw the Real World, and the potential... I heard a voice calling out to me... but it was like I heard it all in my head."

"You're not supposed to mix drugs and alcohol, ya know."

I heard one of the guys stifle a laugh, and I had to bite my lip to keep a straight face.

"_Shut the fuck up,_" Vincent snarled.

"Language!" I exclaimed, hearing the others stirring uncomfortably. "This isn't Homecoming for God's sake."

He spun back around. "I heard a voice, goddammit. It called to me, and it warned me."

I rested a hand on my hip. "Oh yeah? What makes_ you_ so special? Why didn't it say anything to me?"

"Oh... I dunno, maybe because you're broken," he retorted. "Anyway... it warned me of the upcoming shift into the Real World... and I was given something to help us. The Holy Engine. This town is going to disappear, but we'll be safe inside of the level I've built! It's going to come with us."

"We're not real people, Vincent. And you're probably lying. I don't care about any of this." Truthfully I was afraid, and the headache was starting to pound relentlessly again. I touched my forehead and tried not to squint too hard.

"Not yet... but we're so close I can _taste_ it. Any minute now, those weapons are going to rip right through your pockets. I'd take them out of my inventory if I were you... Besides, it's not like you've given them any use lately."

"Shut up."

"None at all, come to think of it," he mocked.

The Double Head growled and barked once angrily. I placed my hand on the back of its neck to reassure it, but my head was aching even worse.

"Not a single monster."

I felt someone touching my shoulder.

Vincent noticed. "What's it like having a broken daughter, Harry?" he asked slimily. "I found that Nurse _you_ handled in Brookhaven. I _know_ Heather doesn't have a hunting rifle. So you've been killing her monsters for her now?"

Harry kept his cool, but my cheeks were flaming hot.

"Don't piss her off," he said. "It won't be good for any of us."

Vincent broke out into an unusual laugh, and it wasn't a quiet one. "I'm not worried one bit... God is losing Her power in this game. There will _never_ be an _Awakening_... and it's all Heather's fault."

I clamped a hand over my eyes and felt myself starting to sink down to the floor. It was a full on skull-splintering migraine.

"So that's that then," he continued. "And now I've got you all tra—... gathered here with the rest of my flock. One might even say I've rescued you. Saved you! When the time comes for the shift, we'll have a place to stay where we won't have to be afraid."

James finally cracked. "You can't stick us in a bunch of tiny rooms and expect it all to work out 'somehow'."

"You won't be stuck anywhere!" he said, gesturing widely and practically spitting. "It's just a place to live! I've given this some thought, you know... I've created a perfect environment for each and every one of you. And I built it all with _my_ power. The power of technology that you view with such scorn!"

Henry quietly interjected. "But we can't live outside of our games... I don't even have a job..."

"I know you think that, but I've got it all planned out. It's going to be fine. What do you think I've been so busy with all this time?"

Harry reached down and pulled me back up to a stand. "What?" he asked.

"Remakes."

"No!" I yelled. "Stop it right there. You can't do that! This isn't what Team Silent wanted!"

"We're gonna need money to get by, Heather. Why not make a ton of it while we can? Before we get too old."

"Konami owns the rights," said Harry. "Your plan won't work."

"Listen to yourself, Harry," Vincent scoffed. "No really, listen! Or should I say 'Michael G'. You know, sometimes I think they killed you off just because they couldn't find your voice actor. Do you know how much you would be worth to them?"

"You're not going to make any money off of us."

James shook his head and stood with his arms crossed. "This is stupid. Konami can't even ship out a half-way decent HD Collection... Anyway, can you imagine if a group of video game characters approached them? Ridiculous... We'd probably be hauled off for scientific research or something."

"It'll be easier than you think," Vincent said, waving a finger. "Think about it. We change our names, disguise ourselves, then we open our own game studio right here, underground. We'll do motion captures and recordings for a demo, CG in some monsters... Konami won't be able to say no. You think _I'm_ the greedy one? And that's just the beginning! I'm talking about a _movie_, James. A Silent Hill 2 movie with an actor that looks and sounds just like he should. The fans will go _crazy._"

James grimaced.

"Konami will love us! We'll remake all of our games... even 4! And then we'll put out sequels... And we can bootleg our own merch right under their noses. We'll make a _killing._"

He took a few steps towards me.

"Come on, Heather... I know you love clothes. Look at all your costumes... you like jewelry, don't you? And music and the internet, too. I _know_ you're aware of the Real World... you don't even try to hide it."

"Don't patronize me," I muttered.

"Harry'll warm up to the idea eventually—like he really has a choice. Maybe he'll take you out driving in that new car I'm going to give you."

"No."

"Awww... what's wrong..." he taunted, his tone downright grating, "don't like your dad's '80s style...? I'm sure he'll let you help him pick out a new outfit if _that's_ what's bothering you."

"Harry's too young to be my dad..." I said, then sighed and paused when my voice began to waver.

"My father is dead."

"Oh boy," he replied, with a shake of his head. "So now you've got daddy issues... I should've known running around with ol' stiff-necked Harry Mason would mess with your head."

"I want my game back to normal."

"That's not going to happen," he said. "Maybe your saves are all gone, but I've made sure to protect you the best that I can. I don't want all of my hard work erased. That's the only thing... I can't let you die or it's game over."

"What do you mean you've protected me?"

"Easy... I just command nuked all of the monsters to death." He grinned widely and pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "Every last one."

_No..._

"Well, not Valtiel... but_ he's_ one of Her harmless ones. Everything else is dead..."

_"_You_ son of a BITCH!_"

"...except for that little dog of yours. Did you give it a name?"

_"None of your goddamned business!"_

"That's an odd name, isn't it."

He reached down and I stared in horror as he pulled out a flamethrower.

_My_ flamethrower.

The Double Head let loose a fierce howl and lunged forward at full speed.

_"No!"_ I bolted straight after it.

Vincent was laughing madly as he stepped back, unleashing a spray of fuel and hellfire. The Double Head went for his throat anyway, but the sheer force of the weapon threw it to the ground. The flames engulfed the monster as it yelped in pain, over and over again.

It fell and landed on its side with a low groan, and then it lay still.

I cried out as I fell down next to it. My gun slipped from my fingers and clattered to the floor.

"Vincent! What in the hell have you done!" cried Harry.

"I barbecued that old dog, since she's gone too soft to do it herself," he replied gleefully.

I touched the burnt bandages, and felt the smoldering fur burning the tips of my fingers.

_Please no._

_Please God no._

My heart _ached._ Far worse than my head ever had. My breaths became ragged and my eyes stung as hot tears began to leak trails down my cheeks.

I heard voices from behind me... but they were all carrying far away. Lost in an inexplicable wind. My vision clouded itself over, shrouded by an even more inexplicable fog. And then time itself seemed to slow to a crawl. There was only blurred fiery light and my monster, dead and gone from my side.

The migraine was loosening its vice-like grip, and the awful throbbing in the back of my eyes grew faint. Soon, I found myself rising back up to a stand.

_"Heather—USE IT!"_

I stared straight ahead... but I saw nothing.

It all felt so good. _Everything_ felt wonderful. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

All of the pain had disappeared.

The veil lifted, and my vision began to refocus itself as I slowly turned and smiled up at Vincent.

He was frozen where he stood. His mouth hanging partly open, his face twisted into a mask of shock and confusion.

The light began to fade around us.

It was glorious.


	16. Chapter 16: Amends

**Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

**Chapter 16: Amends**

The ground was quaking beneath us.

"Get back!" I yelled. "_Now!_"

_"Harry!"_ called James.

_"I said get back!"_

Christ, they were too panicked to move. I groped out into the darkness and grasped their arms, jerking them both in the direction of the door.

I was too late.

A brilliant flash blinded all three of us, and I felt my feet being held fast to the floor. I covered my eyes and tried to back away, but my legs stubbornly refused the request.

The shaking and rumbling was gone. I now heard only my own heart beating and the faint ringing in my ears. I lowered my hands gradually and with great caution. A gentle white light was illuminating the center of the room. It didn't take long to adjust to the dismal surroundings, but I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

It was_ Her._

The _Mother of God._

She was standing calmly there. Her form was surrounded by an aura of soft luminescence, and She was _glowing _within it. Her long, dark hair was thrown back over Her shoulders and She was clad in Her flowing white robes. Her arms and winglike sleeves were outstretched to Vincent, who stood before Her, unmoving.

We were only helpless bystanders now.

Vincent's eyes were wide. _"Mother of God!"_ his mouth formed, uttering not a sound. He stretched one trembling hand out to Her, taking a few uneasy steps forward.

_Vincent...! _I found that my voice had quite simply ceased to function. I could say nothing.

But She could _walk._

I stared as She strode forward gracefully, holding Her arms out to him. She glided along, not touching the ground completely, and Her robes trailed lightly behind Her. There was no attack at first—no cracks of lightning burst forth from Her fingertips—but the _power _She emitted made my stomach turn. The force of an ancient and unhindered _Otherworldly _being: terrible... _unfathomable_. My breath cut short and I flinched, gritting my teeth against the sharp fiery pain that had clawed its way back into my gunshot wounds. In my struggle to move I had overexerted myself, and torn them open again. James and Henry continued to strain themselves at either side of me.

There was nothing we could do.

Vincent staggered his way into the light and fell right into Her open arms. She met and held him with a short embrace, and then Her hands rose to his shoulders as She leaned in to whisper something to him. He gasped audibly, his gaze fixed and glassy as he faltered, and then he dropped to the ground on his knees. Blood began to pour from his lips, and down his chin in rivulets. He twitched and spasmed in a great choking cough and his head fell back, his hands clutched over the front of his chest. There, a widening stain had materialized, and thin lines of red spilled down across his shaking fingers. He pitched forward and collapsed.

He would never move again.

She stood peering down at him for a moment, and then She slowly... slowly lifted Her head.

She turned to face us.

_We're done for._

Her stare commanded mine, and froze my heart into a block of ice in my chest; my blood ran cold, but I couldn't look away. She locked onto James, and finally Henry—as if deciding who to take care of first. Not one of us could budge an inch to run or fight back.

It was_ maddening._

The Judgement was made. Her cold gaze settled on James, and he began to cower helplessly. She glided forth without a sound, stretching Her arms out once again.

She held him in a wrapped embrace, and I watched as Her lips brushed against his left ear, though I heard nothing. His watery eyes shifted slowly over to mine... then they rolled back into his head.

He fell.

_No!_

His limp body crashed down to the metallic floor with a _clang._ I looked away briefly, and when I dared to look again, his clothes and hair had changed.

My clothes.

It was like watching my own death.

One last time, I strained desperately to rip away from the grated floor. My wrists felt like they had been tied to one thousand pound weights. My arms hung down at my sides. Immobilized.

My God, She was _smiling._

She stood before me, radiating Her powerful glow. Her white hand extended outward, and came to rest on my left shoulder. I clenched my eyes tightly shut and waited to die.

But I didn't.

I gasped as I felt the stabbing pain in my chest and shoulder begin to weaken. Then the long-settled aches numbed and left my body as well. I opened my eyes again and stared down, shuddering still. I could breathe more easily, but I was still terribly frightened. She turned from me and took Her hand away.

Henry stood trembling on the other side, his gaze cast down to the ground.

She reached out to him, and delicately lifted his chin while She leaned forward. Again came a soundless whisper, and then She took his hands into Her own. A pair of objects had been placed into his palms. She pushed his hands down into his pockets before I had taken a good look, but they appeared to be two differently labeled bottles.

She let him go and moved back to the center, gliding away from us with Her silent footsteps.

My hands were moving on their own.

_What?_

I had taken my rifle out, and soon discovered that I could move myself again.

She turned, hovering and peering out at me from within the light. _"Do it." _Her lips hadn't moved, but an ethereal wisp of a voice seemed to come from all around us. Had She really spoken?

I sputtered, "What? No!" My voice was back.

She nodded Her head once.

I shook mine no.

My hands lifted the rifle on their own.

_"If I attack you, you will die."_

"No...!"

God, I hated myself, but I did aim for Her.

I fired once, and the shot went wide. My entire body was quivering.

She lifted Her hand and the end of the barrel pulled upward, steadying itself.

"Please don't..." I begged.

_"Do it."_

I took aim and my finger wrapped itself around the trigger. I squeezed my eyes shut and fired again.

And again.

And a third time.

It was enough.

I threw the gun down to the floor with a scream and fell to my knees. Henry ran to my side and grabbed hold of me, hauling me back up onto my feet. The flash blinded us again and we shielded our eyes. I tore away from him—sprinting forward to where She had fallen.

Heather.

She was horrifyingly still. My legs collapsed out from under me again the moment I reached her. Her head was tilted away to the side, her eyes half open in a vacant stare. Her vest and shirt were spattered and stained with dark red.

_Please God. _I was praying to anyone or anything.

I touched the side of her cheek, and I meant to say her name, but another came out instead.

_"Cheryl!"_

By some miracle, she stirred. She drew in a slow breath and her eyes blinked, then opened again to look up at me. I reached for her hand as my own eyes blurred over with tears. Henry paced listlessly nearby. His face was covered, and I thought I heard him sobbing quietly.

A corner of her mouth turned up into a smile. "Thanks," she whispered. "I always wished... you would call me that."

I found no words. Only nodded and squeezed her fingers.

"You need to go," she said wearily. "It's my ending. I saved... everyone." A cold shiver ran through her that I could feel in my arms, she was starting to look past me, and seemed to be struggling to stay awake.

My eyes and nose were running now. "I can't..."

"Yes you can," she said. Her eyes fluttered and began to drift closed.

"I love you," I choked.

"...I love you too, Dad."

The last ounce of strength I had drained right out of me. I slumped down and wept as I held onto her, just as the rain began to fall down all around us.

_"Harry!"_

Someone was shouting.

_"Henry!"_

I raised my head and looked up slowly. It wasn't rain, it was _fire_. And the ground had started to rumble again. There were thunderous eruptions far below, and the earth itself shuddered beneath the shaking grates. A rough hand seized the back of my jacket.

Douglas Cartland.

I tried to pull free. "No! I'm not leaving her!"

"We have to go—it's now or never!" he yelled. "Everybody's leaving!"

His grip held firm, and Henry latched onto my other arm.

I was being dragged away.

_"No!"_


	17. Chapter 17: The Real

**Silent Hill 3: The Fourth Wall, or Heather's Worst Day Ever**

**Chapter 17: The Real**

I sat up groggily from the couch and heard my phone clatter to the floor.

"What a crazy dream."

I rubbed my eyes and squinted over at the TV. I'd left my game muted and the intro had been running continuously for most of the night. Then I remembered why. I'd restarted after leaving the thing unpaused for so long. The end ranking would have been complete crap.

_No more drunken Silent Hill nights for me._

My head was killing me and I really had to pee.

"You up, babe?" my boyfriend called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, just a sec."

I got up to do my thing and let my whiny dog outside, then returned to the living room with a bottle of Advil and a tall glass of ice water. I unmuted the TV and highlighted Extra New Game (and made sure to put in the secret Douglas code for a laugh).

One more playthrough wouldn't hurt anything... and I still needed to unlock that unlimited submachine gun.

* * *

_Dedicated to Heather Mason_  
_The baddest mother to ever grace the streets of Silent Hill._

_And to Team Silent_  
_You are missed._

_..._

_"In here is a tragedy-_  
_art thou player or audience?_  
_Be as it may, the end doth remain:_  
_all go on only toward death._

_The first words at thy left hand:_  
_a false lunacy, a madly dancing man._  
_Hearing unhearable words, drawn_  
_to a beloved's grave-and there,_  
_mayhap, true madness at last._

_As did this one, playing at death,_  
_find true death at the last._  
_Killing a nameless lover, she_  
_pierced a heart rent by sorrow._

_Doth lie invite truth? _  
_Doth verity but wear the_  
_mask of falsehood? _  
_Ah, thou pitiful, thou_  
_miserable ones!_

_Still amidst lies, though the end cometh not, _  
_wherefore yearn for death?_  
_Wilt thou attend to thy beloved?_  
_Truth and lies, life and death:_  
_a game of turning white to black_  
_and black to white._

_Is not a silence brimming with_  
_love more precious than flattery?_  
_A peaceful slumber preferred to_  
_a throne besmirched with blood?_  
_One vengeful man_  
_spilled blood for two;_  
_Two youths shed tears for three;_  
_Three witches disappeared thusly;_  
_And only the four keys remain._

_Ah, but verily..._  
_In here is a tragedy-_  
_art thou player or audience?_  
_There is nothing which cannot_  
_become a puppet of fate or an_  
_onlooker, peering into the cage."_

_..._

**RESULTS**

**Ending type - Holy Mother (Bad+)**

**Action level - Normal**

**Riddle level - Easy**

**Clear time - 19h 59m 08s**

**Split worm kill time - 0m 00s**

**Missionary kill time - 0m 00s**

**Leonard kill time - 0m 00s**

**Memory of Alessa ****kill time - 0m 00s**

** The god kill time - 3m 14s**

**Clear number - 1**

**Save &amp; continues - 0**

**Item number - 10**

**Defeated enemy by shooting - 0(+4)**

**Defeated enemy by fighting - 0(+11)**

**Defeated enemy by divine right - 1**

**Total damage - 4231**

**RANK ******

_..._

_"First flew the greedy Pelican,_  
_eager for the reward._  
_White wings flailing._

_Then came a silent Dove,_  
_flying beyond the Pelican,_  
_as far as he could._

_A Raven flies in,_  
_flying higher than the Dove._  
_Just to show that he can._

_A Swan glides in to find a peaceful spot,_  
_next to another bird._

_Finally out comes a Crow,_  
_coming quickly to a stop, yawning and then napping._

_Who will show the way._  
_Who will be the key._  
_Who will lead to the silver reward."_

_..._

_THE END_


End file.
